Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has finished two days of consultation with the three main parties elected in the last elections and is expected to announce a decision some time on Friday.

Centre-left party leader Pier Luigi Bersani managed to gain a majority with the leftist SEL in Parliament but Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition won enough support in the Senate to force a stalemate.

Now Napolitano is charged with deciding on the next step towards naming a new Prime Minister. The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on Friday that the Napolitano will grant Bersani the first chance to form a government, despite the fact that his party does not have a majority.

After his meeting with the President on Thursday, Bersani called on all political leaders to back a government based on the centre-left's agenda. "We are appealing to the whole of Parliament to support the changes needed," he said.

If no government is formed, Napolitano has the power to appoint a technocrat Prime Minister as occurred in the case of Mario Monti, but any decision would require parliamentary approval.

If no agreement can be reached, new elections would have to be held and would not occur until at least June.

JM

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