Italian president gauges support for Prodi

ROME, Feb 23 (Reuters) Italy's president met party leaders today to see whether Romano Prodi can stay on as prime minister and guarantee a stable centre-left government to end the country's political crisis.

Prodi, who won the narrowest election victory in Italy's post-war history last April, clinched crucial support from his allies at a meeting late on Thursday, a day after he resigned following a revolt in his Catholics-to-communists coalition.

He must now convince President Giorgio Napolitano that he has mustered enough backing to lead a sustainable government.

Seeking to allay fears that he would still be vulnerable to the coalition infighting which brought him down on Wednesday, Prodi was scrambling to widen his support in parliament by trying to lure moderate centre-right politicians into his bloc.

At present, the centre-left does not have a guaranteed majority in the upper house, the Senate.

''I am seeking more votes. I intend to fight on, but I need to have the strength,'' left-leaning daily La Repubblica quoted Prodi as telling his allies late on Thursday.

If Napolitano, a former communist, decides that Prodi can carry on, he could ask him to go to parliament with his present cabinet for a vote of confidence, or to form a new government.

''I will talk to all those who can guarantee that Prodi has a majority,'' said Piero Fassino, leader of the Democrats of the Left, the largest force in Prodi's nine-party coalition.

But with the centre-right opposition insisting Prodi must go, and potential new allies reluctant to join what many feel would be a lame duck executive, the outcome is far from certain.

Napolitano's last meeting is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. (1840 GMT), but there is no guarantee of a solution on Friday.

ALLIANCE PACT Analysts said any Prodi executive was likely to be as weak as the one which suffered a bruising defeat over foreign policy in the Senate on Wednesday, prompting his resignation.

''The policy divisions are so deep that it's hard to see why, in the medium term, a new Prodi government would be any more stable than the first, whatever the parties may say,'' said Susana Garcia, an analyst with Deutsche Bank.

At yesterday's meeting, Prodi's allies all signed up to a 12-point ''non-negotiable'' government pact, giving Prodi the final say in case of conflict within the coalition.

One point is respect for Italy's international commitments, including its military presence in a NATO force in Afghanistan -- the main issue that brought Prodi down.

As Prodi seeks to win over moderate opposition politicians, the pact made no mention of a bill granting rights to unwed and gay couples. The bill, approved by Prodi's cabinet this month, is opposed by the centre-right and the Vatican.

Among those being courted is Marco Follini, a former deputy premier who broke with centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi.

Prodi also hopes to win support from members of the UDC party, which has distanced itself from Berlusconi since he lost last year's election. But UDC leaders have said they will not prop up a government including leftist radicals.

Berlusconi, the former prime minister who could hope to return to power if snap elections were held, said Prodi must go.

''We have told the head of state not to allow a remake of a government that has already done enough damage to the country,'' he said after meeting Napolitano on Friday.

He lost the election by 24,000 votes and opinion polls suggest his centre-right bloc would win if another was held now.

Calling early polls would be a drastic solution for Napolitano, and seems unlikely. Other possible options include forming a government of non-partisan technocrats or asking another centre-left leader to try his hand instead of Prodi.

REUTERS SAM RK2234