Prime Minister Romano Prodi probably will be asked today to see if he has a parliamentary majority after his allies renewed their support late yesterday and unanimously agreed to back the premier’s agenda. Prodi resigned two days ago after losing a foreign policy vote in the Senate. The nine party leaders approved a list of priorities that Prodi presented to them, paving the way for President Giorgio Napolitano to ask the prime minister to seek the support of Parliament for his current government, or form a new Cabinet with the same coalition.

The premier’s allies are trying to bolster their one-seat advantage in the Senate by wooing a handful of moderate Catholic senators who have been voting against the government. Prodi isn’t likely to last as leader because of his narrow majority, which resulted from the closest election in modern Italian politics, said Maurizio Pessato, chief executive officer of Trieste, Italy-based polling company SWG Srl.

“Prodi probably will be asked to form a new government,” said Pessato. “But without some votes from the centrists in the Senate, the government would last just three or four months.”

Prodi, 67, led Italy’s 61st government since World War II. His Feb. 21 defeat in the Senate exposed divisions in his coalition, which includes both communist and Catholic parties. His nine-month-old government had concentrated on measures to underpin economic growth, including reducing the deficit below the European Union limit, fighting tax evasion, and freeing up overregulated segments of the economy.

Consultations

Napolitano began a series of 13 meetings with parliamentary and party leaders at 9 a.m. at the presidential palace in Rome. He’ll wrap up this round of consultations at about 8 p.m. after talks with former presidents. Afterward, he could make a decision to meet with Prodi and give him a mandate, or continue consultations.

The new plan approved yesterday simplifies the 180-page platform drafted during last year’s election campaign into 12 points. Among Prodi’s priorities are lowering the cost of the state pension system, building liquefied natural gas terminals, and renewing funding for the Afghanistan mission.

The government crisis was sparked after two communist senators refused to back Italy’s presence in Afghanistan.

Original News and Read More:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEtmepJ05XjU&refer=home

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