Italy Headed for Caretaker Government

Elder statesman will form interim coalition before elections

By Jason Farago

Posted Jan 31, 2008 10:33 AM CST

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Italy Headed for Caretaker Government — 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)

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.

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