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ROME - Italy's president asked Romano Prodi to stay on as prime minister today, but he now faces a confidence vote in parliament to prove he has enough support to govern.
Prodi resigned on Thursday after he was defeated on foreign policy in the upper house, the Senate, plunging the country into political uncertainty.
After two days of consultations with party leaders on how to resolve the crisis, President Giorgio Napolitano asked Prodi, 67, to stay and put his majority to the test in both chambers of parliament. The votes are likely to be held next week.
"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," Prodi said, thanking the president.
In talks with Napolitano, Prodi's centre-left allies had asked that he be given a second chance to show he can command a majority in parliament, while former prime minister and opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi called for fresh elections.
But Napolitano said today most parties had agreed that the electoral law must be modified before new polls can be held and that there was no consensus on forming a broad-based, interim government with the support of the opposition.
"It was clear that at the moment there was no concrete alternative," Napolitano said, explaining his decision.
"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 governed in a credible and stable fashion."
The present electoral law, introduced by Berlusconi, returned Italy to the proportional representation system analysts regard as the root cause of the country's political instability since World War Two.
Redrafting the law with a first-past-the post formula to guarantee the winning coalition a more solid majority would likely take months.
'Prolonging the agony'
The centre-right opposition said the president's decision would only "prolong the agony" of Prodi's government, Italy's 61st since 1945.
"This government does not have the numbers or the political unity to run the 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 relied on the support of life senators, unelected elder statesmen. But that backing failed on Wednesday, prompting his resignation.
To avoid a repeat, Prodi has scrambled over the past two days to bolster his majority. After intense negotiations, he appeared to have succeeded in winning support from at least one extra senator from the centre-right opposition.
Marco Follini, a Christian Democrat who briefly served as deputy prime minister in Berlusconi's government, said on Saturday he would "probably" support Prodi in a confidence vote.
Prodi also won support from his allies on a 12-point programme that includes a commitment to Italy's military presence in Afghanistan -- the issue that brought him down this week -- and gives him the last say in case of conflict.
Asked whether he now had the required majority in the Senate, Prodi said today: "I think so".
- REUTERS
