Italië krijgt vervroegde verkiezingen (en)
Italy is heading for early elections, following a failed attempt to form a transition government on Monday (4 February).
After centre-left leader Romano Prodi lost a vote of confidence in the Italian senate and resigned on 24 January, the country's president last week asked the speaker of the senate, Franco Marini, to form a transition government whose main mission would be to reform the electoral system.
The current electoral system was adopted hastily by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2005 and enables smaller parties with only a handful of seats to hold the balance of power in parliament.
However, Mr Marini abandoned his task on Monday.
"I could not find a significant majority on a precise electoral reform," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The chief of the centre-right opposition, Silvio Berlusconi, blocked the talks, pressing for early elections instead.
Forming a temporary administration now to change the electoral system is "a useless waste of time," Mr Berlusconi said yesterday, according to the Guardian.
"We hope ... the head of state will call elections immediately because the country quickly needs an efficient government to solve its grave problems," Mr Berlusconi added.
The latest polls suggest the centre-right politician could easily win if early elections were held.
Around 58 percent of those asked said they would vote for the centre-right against 42 percent for the centre-left, according to a poll published last Friday (1 February) in Italian weekly L'Espresso.
The Italian parliament could be dissolved this week, with elections following on 6 or 13 April, according to press reports.
Mr Prodi, twice previously prime minister and former president of the European Commission, was defeated after only 20 months in office.
His government was Italy's 61st over the last 60 years.
Mr Berlusconi has also occupied the premier post twice already and is the only Italian prime minister to have served a full five-year term in office in the country's post-war history.