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| Italy president asks Prodi to stay PM, face vote |
| Roma, 24.02.2007 |
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| By Silvia Aloisi and Robin Pomeroy
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president asked Romano Prodi on Saturday to stay on as prime minister and face a confidence vote to test his majority in parliament.
Prodi resigned on Wednesday after he lost a vote on foreign policy in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, plunging the country into political uncertainty.
He must now win a vote in both chambers of parliament to show that he has enough support to govern. The votes are likely to be held next week.
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"I will go to parliament as soon as possible, with the support of a cohesive coalition determined to help the country at this difficult stage and speed up the economic recovery under way," Prodi said, thanking the president for his support.
Over the past two days, President Giorgio Napolitano had consulted all political leaders on how to resolve the crisis.
Prodi's supporters asked that he be given a second chance to show he can command a majority in parliament, while former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called for fresh elections.
But Napolitano said on Saturday most parties had agreed that the electoral law needed to be modified before new polls can be held and that there was no consensus on forming a broad-based government with the support of the opposition. Continued...
"It was clear that at the moment there was no concrete alternative to sending the present government back to parliament to verify through a confidence vote that it has the support of the necessary majority," Napolitano said.
"Looking at Italy's delicate European and international commitments and the pressing need for economic and social reform, we must express our concern and hope that the country can be government in a credible and stable fashion," he said.
"PROLONGING THE AGONY"
The center-right opposition said the president's decision would only "prolong the agony" of Prodi's government.
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"This government does not have the numbers or the political unity to run this country," said the spokesman of the National Alliance party.
While Prodi has a comfortable, built-in majority in the lower house, he only has a one-seat advantage in the Senate, making him vulnerable to defections in his fractious Catholics-to-communists coalition.
Since he took office last May after winning the closest election in Italy's post-war history, he has often depended on the support of life senators, unelected elderly statesmen.
But that backing failed on Wednesday, prompting his resignation. To avoid a repeat, Prodi has been trying over the past two days to bolster his majority and after intense negotiations, he appeared to have succeeded in winning support from at least one extra senator from the center-right opposition.
Marco Follini, a Christian Democrat who briefly served as deputy prime minister in Silvio Berlusconi's government, said on Saturday he would "probably" support Prodi in a confidence vote.
Additional reporting by Francesca Piscioneri)
www.reuters.com
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