Italian president reviews new Prodi coalition pact

ROME, Feb 23 (Reuters) Italy's president began a new round of talks 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 yesterday, a day after he resigned following a revolt in his Catholics-to-communists coalition.

He must now convince President Giorgio Napolitano, who has been holding consultations with political leaders, that he has mustered enough support to lead a sustainable government.

Italian newspapers reported that Prodi was trying to widen his tiny parliamentary majority -- he has only a one-seat advantage in the upper house -- by luring into his coalition centrist politicians who are not part of the present government.

''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 yesterday.

Napolitano, a former communist, started a second day of talks with party and parliamentary leaders at 0900 hrs (1330 IST). He is expected to seek firm guarantees from Prodi and his allies that they can hold together if they remain in office.

He could then ask Prodi to go to parliament with his present cabinet for a vote of confidence or to form a new government.

The current crisis is complex even by Italy's standards of byzantine politics and revolving-door governments, meaning there is no guarantee that a solution will be found today.

DEEP DIVISIONS Analysts warned any executive led by Prodi would be just as vulnerable to the coalition bickering that brought him down on Wednesday, when his government suffered a bruising defeat over foreign policy in the Senate (upper house).

''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 programme, giving Prodi the last say in case of conflict within the coalition.

One point is respect for Italy's international commitments, including its military presence in Afghanistan -- one of the sources of friction that brought Prodi down.

In a sign that Prodi is seeking to persuade Catholic and moderate politicians currently outside his coalition to support him, the programme made no mention of a bill recognising rights of unwed and gay couples.

The bill, which Prodi's cabinet approved earlier this month, is opposed by the Vatican.

The centre-right opposition insists Prodi must go.

''Any attempt to resuscitate the Prodi government will fail from the outset,'' said Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister and media tycoon who could hope to return to power if snap elections were held.

He lost by just 24,000 votes in last year's election 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 it seems unlikely. Another option would be to form a new government of non-partisan technocrats.

REUTERS BDP PM1526