ITALY:Italy's Senate speaker yesterday appealed to centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi to drop demands for an immediate election and support his bid for cross-party agreement on voting rules to stabilise the country.
Franco Marini, asked by the president after the collapse last week of Italy's 61st government since the second World War to seek consensus on electoral reform and try to form an interim government to implement it, acknowledged it was an uphill task.
"The situation is difficult and tough, but there is no doubt in my mind that there is some small scope for success," Mr Marini (74), a Catholic from the centre left who commands broad respect, told a news conference after a second day of talks.
On the centre right, Forza Italia leader Mr Berlusconi has dug in his heels for a snap election he would almost certainly win, making him prime minister for the third time. The centre left feels it has a chance only if voting rules are changed first.
Mr Marini said that with a lot of the parties he had met so far supporting electoral reform, "I am convinced a party like Forza Italia cannot ignore this".
He meets Forza Italia and the main centre-left Democratic Party on Monday and hopes to conclude the talks early next week, when he will report back to president Giorgio Napolitano. In the meantime, Romano Prodi, who quit as prime minister after losing a Senate confidence vote, stays on in a caretaker role.
Mr Marini's talks with the centre left, whose bickering finally brought Mr Prodi down last week after 20 months in office, were not very encouraging. Some were urging a referendum on reform while others wanted an interim government to guide it through.
"Before going to vote we should reform the electoral law. If parliament is not up to the job . . . citizens should be allowed to decide via a referendum," said outgoing foreign minister Massimo D'Alema, a moderate Prodi ally and former premier.
The reforms proposed by the referendum, which has been approved by the constitutional court, would raise the bar for seats in parliament and many of the 39 parties who now have seats would see their weight reduced and risk exclusion.