ITALY: It was a case of all's well that ends well for Italian prime minister-elect Romano Prodi at the weekend when his centre-left Union coalition, not without difficulty, secured the nominations of both its candidates for speaker in both houses of parliament.
Having survived this first crucial test, the centre-left coalition has thus established that, for the time being at least, it has a workable parliamentary majority.
At this point, Mr Prodi is now certain to be nominated head of Italy's next government, perhaps as early as next weekend but certainly by the end of the month.
When parliament convened last Friday for the first time after last month's desperately close general election win for the Prodi centre-left coalition, most attention was inevitably focused on the upper house, the Senate, where, on paper at least, the centre-left could count on only a two-vote majority.
As expected, the centre-left encountered difficulties on Friday, failing to see its candidate, former trade unionist Franco Marini, elected at the first three attempts.
Mr Marini's task was complicated by two factors, other than his obvious narrow majority. For a start, his opponent, nominated by the centre-right coalition of outgoing prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, was none other than seven-times prime minister 87-year-old Giulio Andreotti.
For a second, elements within the centre-left coalition appeared to deliberately spoil their votes by way of flexing muscle within the coalition, perhaps with a view to future appointments within the Prodi government cabinet.
The white smoke eventually blew, however, early on Saturday afternoon when Mr Marini recorded a nine-vote winning margin of 165 to 156.
Although the centre-left could count on only a 158-156 margin from the ranks of the elected senators, quite clearly some of the seven non-elected life-senators voted with the Prodi coalition. After weeks of speculation about the centre-left's "razor thin" majority in the Senate, the result represented a significant triumph for Mr Prodi.
Earlier in the day, as widely expected, the Prodi coalition secured the nomination of Rifondazione Comunista leader Fausto Bertinotti as speaker of the Lower House, the Chamber of Deputies.
Here, too, internal centre-left tensions manifested themselves in the vote, with deputies from the Democratic Left, the largest party in the coalition, voting for the party president, Massimo D'Alema rather than the coalition's designated candidate, Mr Bertinotti.
Given that the centre-left has a 347-283 majority in the Lower House, this protest was more symbolic than politically damaging. The comfortable majority also prompted Mr Berlusconi's centre-right coalition to abstain from the vote by not nominating a candidate, thus leaving the way clear for the eventual victory of Mr Bertinotti, elected on the fourth ballot on Saturday morning with a 337-100 margin over Mr D'Alema.
"In a matter of a few hours, the whole political horizon has changed", commented Mr Prodi. "I believe the new legislature can now begin well, indeed very well. In just four hours, everything has fallen into place, we've pulled off a splendid 2-0 win.
"As for my nomination, that is not my problem, the timing is decided by the state president, I just have to be ready when he gives me the nomination".
Silvio Berlusconi confirmed that he will formally hand in his resignation tomorrow, thus paving the way for a possible Prodi nomination before next weekend.
The formation of the new government has been complicated by an institutional log-jam deriving from the fact that the seven-year mandate of state president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi runs out this month.
Parliament is due to elect his successor on May 13th and it is not clear if there will be time to form the Prodi government before then.
Under the Italian constitution, the prime minister is nominated by the president. As of now, it is not certain whether President Ciampi will go ahead and nominate Mr Prodi this week or leave that task to his successor.
However, before the president can begin his consultations parliament must meet to nominate party whips and parliamentary groupings, a process that could begin as early as Wednesday.
Berlusconi: fight goes on
Silvio Berlusconi has threatened to resort to extra-parliamentary tactics to stop the centre-left from monopolising power. Mr Berlusconi said he and his allies would insist on having one of their own elected as head of state. He said his personal "Mr Fixit", a former employee of his business empire, would be among those proposed. "If they refuse our offer, we shall feel it our duty to [ mount] hard, total opposition - not just in the chambers [ of parliament]." - (Guardian service)