Rome- Marathon consultations to resolve Italy's political crisis following the resignation of prime minister Romano Prodi will last five days, President Giorgio Napolitano's office announced on Friday.
Napolitano will consult with 24 political leaders or party delegations, beginning on Friday afternoon when he is to meet the speakers of the two houses of parliament, Franco Marini of the Senate and Fausto Bertinotti of the lower house Chamber of Deputies.
Prodi, 68, resigned on Thursday after 20 months at the head of a wide-ranging centre-left coalition after losing a vote of confidence in the Senate.
The president is tasked with deciding whether to call fresh elections - demanded by the centre-right, which is riding high in voter surveys - or set up a transition government amid widespread calls for an overhaul of Italy's electoral law.
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The most important meetings are set for Monday and Tuesday As tradition dictates, Napolitano, an 82-year-old former communist, will hold no talks on Sunday, the president's office said in a communique.
The most important meetings are set for Monday and Tuesday with the four largest parties on the right, including former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, and the centre-left's two main formations, the Democratic Party and the Refoundation Communists.
The Democratic Party, headed by Rome's Mayor Walter Veltroni, was formed late last year through the merger of the Democrats of the Left and the centrist Daisy party.
The talks will end on Tuesday with a traditional meeting between Napolitano and his predecessors as president, Francesco Cossiga and Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. - AFP
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