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| Italy’s President Asks Center-Left Party to Form Government | Italy’s President Asks Center-Left Party to Form Government |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| ROME — A month after national elections failed to yield a clear result, President Giorgio Napolitano of Italy on Friday asked the leader of the Democratic Party to try to form a government, but only if he meets the challenge of mustering a strong enough majority to govern. | ROME — A month after national elections failed to yield a clear result, President Giorgio Napolitano of Italy on Friday asked the leader of the Democratic Party to try to form a government, but only if he meets the challenge of mustering a strong enough majority to govern. |
| Mr. Napolitano said he had given an exploratory mandate to Pier Luigi Bersani because his center-left Democratic Party had won the greatest number of seats in Parliament last month, but he asked him first “to verify that he has a secure majority that can win confidence votes in both houses of Parliament.” | Mr. Napolitano said he had given an exploratory mandate to Pier Luigi Bersani because his center-left Democratic Party had won the greatest number of seats in Parliament last month, but he asked him first “to verify that he has a secure majority that can win confidence votes in both houses of Parliament.” |
| That will not be easy and requires Mr. Bersani to weave together an array of disparate elements. He will most likely draw on members of the conservative Northern League; the Left Ecology Freedom party; and the civic movement of Prime Minister Mario Monti to support him in a confidence vote. | |
| Last month’s vote left no bloc with a workable majority capable of governing Italy, the euro zone’s third-largest economy, during a financial crisis, with unemployment now above 11 percent. Stark ideological differences among the parties make the chances for a coherent coalition slim. | Last month’s vote left no bloc with a workable majority capable of governing Italy, the euro zone’s third-largest economy, during a financial crisis, with unemployment now above 11 percent. Stark ideological differences among the parties make the chances for a coherent coalition slim. |
| The Democratic Party has a majority in the Lower House but not in the Senate, where seats are assigned based on regional showings and the center-right People of Liberty party, led by the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, had a strong showing. Mr. Bersani has rejected Mr. Berlusconi’s calls for a grand coalition led by an outside figure. | The Democratic Party has a majority in the Lower House but not in the Senate, where seats are assigned based on regional showings and the center-right People of Liberty party, led by the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, had a strong showing. Mr. Bersani has rejected Mr. Berlusconi’s calls for a grand coalition led by an outside figure. |
| The confusion is compounded by the Five Star Movement of Beppe Grillo, the former comedian, which took one-fourth of the popular vote and has said it will not back a coalition led by Mr. Bersani, whom it sees as part of the entrenched political system that it seeks to transform. | |
| In accepting the mandate on Friday, Mr. Bersani said he would try “with the maximum balance and determination” to form a government that respected the election results, in which Italians clearly voted for change and largely against the austerity agenda of the yearlong technocratic government of Mr. Monti. | In accepting the mandate on Friday, Mr. Bersani said he would try “with the maximum balance and determination” to form a government that respected the election results, in which Italians clearly voted for change and largely against the austerity agenda of the yearlong technocratic government of Mr. Monti. |
| Political analysts said that even if Mr. Bersani managed to assemble a government, its chances of lasting were slim. | Political analysts said that even if Mr. Bersani managed to assemble a government, its chances of lasting were slim. |
| “What will emerge from this is a weak government based on the fact that almost all the parties are afraid of going back to the polls,” said Marco Damilano, a political correspondent for the weekly magazine L’Espresso. “Only the Five Star Movement wants to go back to the polls.” | “What will emerge from this is a weak government based on the fact that almost all the parties are afraid of going back to the polls,” said Marco Damilano, a political correspondent for the weekly magazine L’Espresso. “Only the Five Star Movement wants to go back to the polls.” |
| That party, which grew out of Mr. Grillo’s popular antiestablishment blog, has been shaking things up since putting more than 100 political newcomers into Parliament, many of them young. Party members now say they want control of two important parliamentary committees overseeing intelligence and the state broadcaster RAI. | That party, which grew out of Mr. Grillo’s popular antiestablishment blog, has been shaking things up since putting more than 100 political newcomers into Parliament, many of them young. Party members now say they want control of two important parliamentary committees overseeing intelligence and the state broadcaster RAI. |
| In a sign of change, two outsiders were elected to top legislative positions. Pietro Grasso, Italy’s former top anti-Mafia prosecutor, was made president of the Senate, and the Lower House selected Laura Boldrini from Left Ecology Freedom as speaker. | In a sign of change, two outsiders were elected to top legislative positions. Pietro Grasso, Italy’s former top anti-Mafia prosecutor, was made president of the Senate, and the Lower House selected Laura Boldrini from Left Ecology Freedom as speaker. |
| A former spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Boldrini has clashed with the Northern League, known for its anti-immigrant stance. Some Northern League members may support Mr. Bersani in a confidence vote in the Senate, a sign of the strange alliances that he must forge in order to govern. If he has enough support to pass a confidence vote, Mr. Bersani, is likely to propose a slate of new faces as government ministers. | A former spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Boldrini has clashed with the Northern League, known for its anti-immigrant stance. Some Northern League members may support Mr. Bersani in a confidence vote in the Senate, a sign of the strange alliances that he must forge in order to govern. If he has enough support to pass a confidence vote, Mr. Bersani, is likely to propose a slate of new faces as government ministers. |
| “He has to have the novelty effect in order to cover up the fact that his government would come about through an old-school parliamentary maneuver,” Mr. Damilano said, referring to a technique in the revolving-door governments of postwar Italy in which single members of Parliament crossed party lines to help shore up weak governments. | “He has to have the novelty effect in order to cover up the fact that his government would come about through an old-school parliamentary maneuver,” Mr. Damilano said, referring to a technique in the revolving-door governments of postwar Italy in which single members of Parliament crossed party lines to help shore up weak governments. |
| Adding to the political instability, Mr. Napolitano’s seven-year term ends this spring, and Parliament must elect a new president. | Adding to the political instability, Mr. Napolitano’s seven-year term ends this spring, and Parliament must elect a new president. |