Romano Prodi was appointed Italian premier on Tuesday, almost five weeks after narrowly beating outgoing premier Silvio Berlusconi in Italy's general election.
New President Giorgio Napolitano gave centre-left chief Prodi the constitutionally-required mandate to govern following a day of consultations with party leaders, the two parliamentary speakers and former heads of state. Prodi, a 66-year-old former European Commission chief, immediately promised the country a "solid" government. "I assured the president that we would work to create a balanced and solid government capable of tackling the political and economic problems facing Italy," he said.
Prodi said his government would promote "greater social cohesion and guarantee the harmonious development of our society".
He also told reporters that he was putting the finishing touches to his cabinet list, which he is expected to present on Wednesday morning.
Prodi is having a hard task in putting together his government and smoothing the ruffled feathers of smaller allies in his nine-party coalition.
Critics have expressed concern that the alliance, which ranges from Communists and anti-clericalists to staunch Catholics, is too disparate to offer effective government. But Prodi, whose first, 1996-98 government was brought down by a rebellious ally, insists that the undersigning of his 280-page election programme by all coalition parties will limit any infighting.
The premier, who has no party of his own, has promised a strong leadership legitimised by his landslide victory in unprecedented primary-style elections last October. But the last week has been dominated by internal power struggles as his allies vie for government positions and the juggling appeared far from over.
One of the squabbles is over the defence ministry post, sought with equal determination by both centrist, Catholic UDEUR chief Clemente Mastella and top Radical Emma Bonino. According to media reports, Prodi has quelled the row by offering Mastella the weighty justice ministry post. The reports also put Giuliano Amato, a 68-year-old former Socialist who served as premier from 1992-93 and again from 2000-2001, in pole position for the interior ministry.
Former premier and Democratic Left (DS) chairman Massimo D'Alema, whose party is the largest in Prodi's coalition, is tipped to become foreign minister. D'Alema has already been forced to step aside twice - once in favour of Communist Refoundation Party (PRC) chief Fausto Bertinotti for the job of House Speaker and again in favour of Napolitano for the post of president.
Daisy chief Francesco Rutelli, whose centrist, Catholic party is the second biggest in the coalition, is set to become culture minister.
Both D'Alema and Rutelli, who lost to Berlusconi in the 2001 election, are expected to be made deputy premiers. The important post of economy minister is almost certain to go to former European Central Bank board member Tommaso Padoa Schioppa.
Most experts agree that Padoa Schioppa, who is not a party affiliate, is an ideal choice to boost confidence in Italy's ability to fix its deteriorating finances and help boost its stagnant economy. Meanwhile, Berlusconi renewed charges of election fraud on Tuesday, saying he was "convinced" the April 9/10 election outcome could be overturned.
Speaking at a farewell press conference, Berlusconi said his centre-right coalition would use "all democratic methods possible" to verify the vote outcome, which was the narrowest in Italian postwar history.
Emerging from talks with Napolitano earlier in the day, the billionaire media magnate said that "there are lots of irregularities and anomalies (with the vote)". He said that once the new government and parliamentary committees were in place, his coalition would ask the House and Senate electoral committees to examine ballot slips which had been declared void during the count.
Political experts said it was extremely unlikely that any bid to overturn the election result would succeed.
Berlusconi, who initially claimed that vote-rigging had taken place, refused to concede defeat after the election, even when the Supreme Court confirmed Prodi's win following an examination of disputed ballots. Prodi's appointment as new head of government was delayed by the ballot dispute and then by the change of guardat the presidential office.
The previous head of state, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, preferred to leave the task of appointing the next premier - the head of state's constitutional right - to his successor. Napolitano, an 80-year-old former Communist, was elected last week on the votes of Prodi's centre-left coalition alone.
Berlusconi refused to vote for him, citing his Communist past.
Napolitano, a former interior minister and House speaker, praised Berlusconi on Tuesday for the "stability and continuity" of his government. Berlusconi is the only postwar premier to have lasted an entire five-year legislature. The centre-right chief said that Napolitano's words were the "first confirmation of the head of state's desire to be impartial and a president for everyone".
