MSG084G/01E ITALY: President to Nominate New Prime Minister
ROME, Dic 30 (IPS) - Italian President Oscar Scalfaro on Friday said he will nominate a new Prime Minister rather than call for new elections.
The decision is a defeat for ousted Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who demanded new elections when he resigned on Dec.22 rather than face removal by a vote of no confidence.
Scalfaro said that the majority in Parliament were against calling elections.
"This gives the head of state a constitutional obligation to make further consultations on constituting a new government," he said.
The two loyal parties of Berlusconi's coalition government - the National Alliance and Forza Italia - both supported his call for new elections.
Meanwhile, the breakaway Northern League and the opposition want a new government, led by an independent Prime Minister who will appoint non-party ministers.
The Northern League, the Democratic Left (PDS) and the People's Party (PPI) have sufficient support in both chambers of Parliament to form the new government.
The list of candidates for Prime Minister includes former judge Antonio di Pietro of "clean hands" fame, and economist and European Commissioner Mario Monti, who has opposition support even though he was nominated by Berlusconi.
The first tasks of the new government will be to reform electoral law by introducing direct representation - currently 25 percent of members of parliament are elected by proportional vote - and to pass an anti-trust ruling.
The latter is specifically aimed at eliminating conflict of interest cases among politicians, which was an important element in Berlusconi's downfall.
Berlusconi owns an economic empire with a turnover of seven billion dollars per year, including the three major private television channels and other media.
© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service