Italy's election victor Romano Prodi outlined his plans for government,
dismissing the threat of a recount demanded by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
and saying he would take power in May.
Italy's election
victor Romano Prodi, seen delivering a speech in front of supporters in
Bologna's central square, outlined his plans for government, dismissing
the threat of a recount demanded by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and
saying he would take power in May. [AFP] |
"I have absolutely no fear of a reversal of the situation," the centre-left
leader told his first major news conference since his hair's breadth election
win was announced Tuesday.
Prodi said he would take office in May even though the outgoing premier has
refused to concede the defeat of his centre-right coalition.
Later in the day, after Berlusconi alleged there had been "vote-rigging" in
numerous parts of Italy during the weekend election, Prodi told him it was time
to pack it in.
"Berlusconi has been trying to spread concern and in spite of his defeat he
continues to cast doubt on the legality of our victory. I can assure you there
is no doubt about our victory," Prodi said in his northern hometown of Bologna.
"We won and it is useless for Berlusconi to try to delay (recognition of our
victory). Berlusconi must go home," he added.
At the earlier press conference, the centre-left leader vowed that his
government would pass a new law aimed at preventing conflicts of interest.
"There will not be any preferential or damaging law for any one person.
Everyone is equal before the law," Prodi said, without referring specifically to
his predecessor.
Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, is embroiled in legal entanglements stemming
from his vast business empire including the country's largest private TV
network, a publishing conglomerate, insurance companies and department stores.
Prodi, 66, also said that his new government, which will include moderate
Catholics and communists, would scrap a tough immigration law brought in by his
predecessor.
He told foreign correspondents his government would take power "in the first
or second half of May."
He said the speakers of both houses of parliament would first have to
determine whether the required vote of confidence in a new administration would
take place before or after a new state president is nominated.
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi's seven-year mandate is due to expire on May
18.
A former European Commission president, Prodi said his government would work
for a "stronger and more coherent" European policy than that of Berlusconi's
coalition, which included the strongly euro-sceptic Northern League party.
Prodi waved away concerns over the center-right challenge of the election
results.
Berlusconi on Tuesday cited "many irregularities" in voting for the upper
Senate and the tiny 25,000-vote margin in the lower house and has demanded a
close check of 43,000 contested ballots before Italy's top court signs off on
the result.
"I don't know what Berlusconi is talking about," Prodi said.
"He was in control of everything in this election. He was in charge of the
interior ministry, and the authorities who checked for irregularities.
"I don't know why he's putting any suspicion on himself," added Prodi, who
has consistently expressed his confidence in the result since he first claimed
victory in the early hours of Tuesday.
Prodi said fighting the Mafia would be another of the "absolute priorities"
of his government, a day after Mafia top boss Bernardo Provenzano was captured
after more than 40 years on the run.
Organized crime was "one of the elements which has made foreign investment
more difficult in Italy," Prodi added.
"If we look at the history of our country, it has created enormous damage,
not only to the coherence of the country also to its economy."
The capture of Provenzano, the last senior figure in the Cosa Nostra still at
liberty, briefly diverted attention from the outcome of the election.