Prodi suffers setback in Senate drama

Prime-Minister-in-waiting Romano Prodi suffered an embarrassing setback yesterday when a centre-left ally failed to secure victory in two highly charged votes to elect a speaker for Italy's upper house.

The ballots, which took place on the opening day of the new Parliament and verged on the farcical at times, underscored the serious problems Prof. Prodi will face trying to govern with the tiny majority he carved out in a general election this month.

The Senate showdown pitted former union leader Franco Marini against 87-year-old elder statesman Giulio Andreotti, who once stood trial for Mafia collusion and is being used by outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to expose Prof. Prodi's problems.

Mr Marini failed to win the necessary absolute majority in the first secret vote by five ballots.

In the subsequent vote, a preliminary count showed he had won by one ballot, but this result was contested by centre-right politicians who complained that Mr Marini's first name was given as Francesco on two of the hand-written ballots, making them void.

After lengthy deliberations, provisional Senate speaker Oscar Luigi Scalfaro told the house that the whole second round would be annulled and repeated later yesterday evening, and a result was expected by midnight (2200 GMT).

The first vote was also marked by misspelt ballot papers, but in the country which gave the world Machiavelli, few people thought the errors were genuine. Rather they were seen as furtive signals from centre-left senators warning Prof. Prodi their support could not be taken for granted.

"Things are going badly in the Senate... It's a shame this legislature will last such a short time," said Fabio Mussi, a senior member of the Democrats of the Left (DS) party, the largest force in Prof. Prodi's broad coalition.

Prof. Prodi won this month's election by the smallest margin in modern Italian history, giving him just a two-seat advantage in the 322-seat Senate.

Mr Berlusconi has refused to concede defeat, citing widespread irregularities, and his supporters revelled in Prof. Prodi's woes.

"The countdown for early elections has started because as you can see, there is no majority here," said Paolo Guzzanti, a senator in Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia (Go Italy) party, after the first ballot.

If yesterday's repeated vote failed to give either candidate an absolute majority, a third ballot will be held today where a simple majority will suffice.

Even some centre-left politicians have warned that a defeat for Mr Marini would indicate that Prof. Prodi could not govern.

"If Andreotti should win in the Senate then we will all have to go home," said Giulio Santagata, political coordinator of the centre-left Olive Tree alliance, which combines Prof. Prodi's two largest political allies.

Prof. Prodi scrunched up his face in disappointment when he heard news of the Senate setback, but he later told reporters he remained confident of victory.

The centre-left enjoys almost a 70-seat majority in the lower house, thanks to a new electoral system which provided the general election victor with an automatic winners' bonus.

This means the centre-left candidate for speaker in that chamber, veteran communist Fausto Bertinotti, should be elected with ease in a vote due today.

Once the two speakers have been picked, attention will switch to Prof. Prodi's plans to form a government, which have been held up by a constitutional logjam.

Under the Constitution, the head of state appoints a new Prime Minister, but the situation is complicated this year because President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi's mandate expires in May and he wants his successor to do the honours.

However, concerns over a prolonged power vacuum might persuade him to nominate Prof. Prodi himself in the coming days.