Romano Prodi's fragile government crumbled yesterday, with the Italian Senate affirmatively voting on a motion on no-confidence. Prodi's thin majority was built on a fractured coalition, and government after his victory over Silvio Berlusconi last year was not expected to be smooth. Just look at the makeup of it:
Mr Prodi's Government, made up of nine parties ranging from Communists to Catholics, was Italy's 61st in 63 years. If elections are held, Mr Berlusconi's opponent on the Left designated as Mr Prodi's successor will be Walter Veltroni, the Mayor of Rome and leader of the new Democratic Party, a fusion of former Communists and liberals.
No surprises then, that Silvio is throwing his hat back in the ring:
The Centre Right popped open champagne bottles last night, with Silvio Berlusconi, the opposition leader and media tycoon, exclaiming jubilantly: "To the ballot boxes!" He predicted that the Centre Right would have a great majority, adding: "The country needs a government that works".
The President, Giorgio Napolitano, now faces a difficult balancing act. He will now consult with the leaders of each of the parties in the parliament, to see if he can string together a coalition from what is available, but Prodi has already ruled out continuing in a prime ministerial capacity.
Both left and right have generally been in disarray since the vote, the former unable to quite grasp they have effectively lost government, and the former fighting amongst themselves to position their different parties as the forerunner of a victorious coalition.
The President would also have the ability to have a caretaker government administer the country until a referendum on electoral reform is held; I think is the cause of all the troubles in the first place; specifically Proportional Representation (PR). Ironically, it was Silvio who converted Italy from a mix of first past the post and PR to full PR for the Chamber of Deputies.
We'll see what happens in the next week or two.
Both left and right have generally been in disarray since the vote, the former unable to quite grasp they have effectively lost government, and the former fighting amongst themselves to position their different parties as the forerunner of a victorious coalition.
The President would also have the ability to have a caretaker government administer the country until a referendum on electoral reform is held; I think is the cause of all the troubles in the first place; specifically Proportional Representation (PR). Ironically, it was Silvio who converted Italy from a mix of first past the post and PR to full PR for the Chamber of Deputies.
We'll see what happens in the next week or two.
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