Incoming Italian prime minister Romano Prodi has called for broad support for his compromise candidate for president shortly before voting began in parliament today.
Romano Prodi, on his compromise candidate for the presidency
Mr Prodi, whose centre-left coalition won last month's election by a slim margin, will not be able to form his government before the election of the new head of state, who will formally give him the mandate.
Mr Prodi yesterday put forward 80-year-old Giorgio Napolitano after outgoing prime minister Silvio Berlusconi turned down his first proposal, Massimo D'Alema - a former prime minister who is chairman of the Democrats of the Left (DS).
"He [Napolitano] is a serious, meditated choice who can really get the support of the whole of parliament right away," Mr Prodi said.
But the call appeared to fall on deaf ears in the Berlusconi camp, suggesting the election of the president could turn into a bruising battle and continue to sour the political climate after the most divisive election campaign in decades.
The Northern League, one of Mr Berlusconi's coalition partners, said the alliance would not support Mr Napolitano who, like Mr D'Alema, is from the DS, descendant of the Italian Communist Party.
"I don't see any possibility that the centre-right will unite behind Napolitano . . . what difference is there between Massimo D'Alema and Napolitano?" said Northern League member and welfare minister Roberto Maroni.
The first round of voting begins today, but many analysts believe no winner will emerge before Wednesday's fourth ballot, when the number of votes needed falls from a two-thirds majority of the electors to an absolute majority.
The 1,010 "grand electors", made up of legislators and regional representatives, will choose a successor to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, whose seven-year term is about to expire. It took 13 days to elect Mr Ciampi's predecessor in 1992.