Outgoing opposition leader Walter Veltroni on Wednesday apologised for having failed as leader of the Democratic Party he helped to create, urging members to end internal strife and work to regain voters' consensus.
A day after resigning in the wake of the latest whipping by Premier Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party in regional elections in Sardinia on Monday, Veltroni told a party meeting he ''apologised'' for not having ''responded to the need for innovation''.
The defeat in Sardinia was the latest under Veltroni's leadership after the PD lost last spring's general elections to the PdL and votes in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Molise and Abruzzo, regions previously governed by the centre left.
Last spring the centre left also lost the Rome mayoralty race after having run the city continuously for over 15 years.
Overturning the regional government in Sardinia was seen as a major boost for Berlusconi who campaigned vigorously on the island for his candidate while struggling to deal with a economic recession which has seen Italy's GDP fall by 0.9% in 2008.
The PD has been beset by a series of corruption scandals and internal bickering and has been unable to capitalise on the recession, commentators said.
On Tuesday, just hours after Ugo Cappellacci was elected governor of Sardinia, Veltroni surprised everyone by announcing his resignation and refusing offers to stay on.
''We must overcome personality conflicts and divisions and move from a radical chic left-wing, driven by the need to settle problems via the judiciary, pessimistic and largely conservative, towards a centre left which is innovative and able to get in synch again with the real life of citizens,'' Veltroni told a news conference on Wednesday.
''The responsibility for having failed to create the party I dreamed about, a dream shared by millions of others, is totally mine and I'm ready to shoulder the blame''.
The former Rome mayor, who has led the party since it was founded in 2007 by merging the Democratic Left with the centrist Daisy party, said the PD should look to fresh ''forces and new energy'' to regain support among voters.
He told party heavyweights to show more ''love'' for the PD, urging them to ''water the plant, remain united''.
''Italy needs deep and radical change,'' said Veltroni, before indirectly referring to United States President Barack Obama and asking the party to do its bit so that ''what happened in the US could also take place here''.
He then attacked Berlusconi, saying that the media mogul-turned politician has created a ''hegemonic'' hold on the country because ''with the means at his service he has distorted the system of values and set up a system of 'non values' which must be challenged with courage''.
Veltroni called on his deputy, Dario Franceschini, 53, to take the party's helm until a convention can decide on a new leader. An executive meeting on Saturday is expected to confirm Franceschini's interim leadership.
A statement issued by the party's executive praised Veltroni for the ''energy, ideas and prestige'' he had invested in the political project, adding: ''The PD would not have been created without him''.
Some PD heavyweights, including Bologna Mayor Sergio Cofferati, suggested that the party should convene a convention ''as soon as possibile'' to elect a new leader able to steer it safely through the June European parliament elections.
Former premier Romano Prodi, who resigned amid polemics as party chairman following the April general elections defeat, told reporters he was not interested in returning to Italian politics.
