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Italy Headed for Caretaker Government

Elder statesman will form interim coalition before elections

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(Newser) – Italy's president has asked Senate speaker Franco Marini to form an interim government in a last-ditch effort to reform election laws ahead of a snap poll, reports the BBC. Marini was invited to head a temporary administration to change Italy's crippling voting system, which privileges small parties and has led to the unmanageable multi-party coalitions that led to PM Romano Prodi's downfall.

Silvio Berlusconi, riding high in the polls, has demanded an immediate election, but Italian political observers say a caretaker government is a near certainty. "Marini will have a narrow majority in the Senate, but you can't have elections with the current system," one political scientist told Bloomberg. The 74-year-old Marini is a former labor union leader.

Italian premier Romano Prodi, midrow sitting with light-blue tie, looks on amongst government representatives, prior to a confidence vote in the Senate, in Rome, Thursday Jan. 24, 2008.
Italian premier Romano Prodi, midrow sitting with light-blue tie, looks on amongst government representatives, prior to a confidence vote in the Senate, in Rome, Thursday Jan. 24, 2008.   (Associated Press)
Italian Senate president Franco Marini walks past a Courassier presidential guard as he leaves the Quirinale Presidential Palace in Rome after talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Friday, Jan. 25, 2008. The Italian president began sounding out political leaders on Friday to determine whether he should call early elections immediately...
Italian Senate president Franco Marini walks past a Courassier presidential guard as he leaves the Quirinale Presidential Palace in Rome after talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Friday,...   (Associated Press)
Italy's Senate speaker Franco Marini, right, speaks to journalists after talks with President Giorgio Napolitano, left, midground, in Rome's Quirinale presidential palace, Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008. Napolitano asked Marini Wednesday to see if an interim government can be formed to change the electoral law before early general elections. The Italian...
Italy's Senate speaker Franco Marini, right, speaks to journalists after talks with President Giorgio Napolitano, left, midground, in Rome's Quirinale presidential palace, Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008. Napolitano...   (Associated Press)
Italy Senate speaker Franco Marini, right, arives to speak to journalists with President Giorgio Napolitano, left, in Rome's Quirinale presidential palace, Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008. Napolitano asked Marini Wednesday to see if an interim government can be formed to change the electoral law before early general elections. The Italian president...
Italy Senate speaker Franco Marini, right, arives to speak to journalists with President Giorgio Napolitano, left, in Rome's Quirinale presidential palace, Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008. Napolitano asked Marini...   (Associated Press)
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