Prodi On Thin Ice

After Prodi submitted his resignation last Wednesday, Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano asked him and his left-center coalition to stand a vote of confidence in parliament. The vote is expected to take place on Thursday, but the government will decide Monday on an exact appointment.

In an effort to unify his coalition, which is split on a variety of issues including pension reform, Italian troops in Afghanistan and rights for homosexual couples, Prodi presented a 12-point-pact to his coalition partners last Thursday in an effort to bridge the divides.

12-point-plan doesn't solve the problem

The coalition's biggest problem -- that it "spans from communists to Christian democrats" -- can't be solved with its new 12-point program," wrote Berlin's tageszeitung on Monday. "To find a common denominator, it won't be enough to declare a new 'spirit' and sign a blank check with the 12-point plan."

Prodi doesn't have a secure majority, continued the paper. Prodi is on thin ice, but "the real test will come in March with the impending Afghanistan vote and retirement reform."

Down to the wire

Though the Berliner Zeitung expressed confidence that Prodi would be reinstated, it agreed that the problems are not just superficial, but that the prime minister is on shaky ground.

"Prodi will give a less left-wing, more middle-of-the-line platform speech and call for a vote of confidence," wrote the paper Monday. "And he's likely to get it. Very likely."

Abroad, people tend to see the government crisis as "part of the normal craziness" of Italy's politics, continued the paper. "Was the 'blitz' crisis a farce in the end? And will Prodi come out of it even stronger, as some political analysts suggest? Was Prodi's resignation a victory march from the beginning?" asked the commentary.

"No, no, no." By sending Prodi back to parliament, "it's down to the wire again," concluded the Berliner Zeitung.

Italy no better off with Berlusconi

"Italy isn't ready for a grand coalition," opined the Stuttgarter Zeitung Sunday. "The right-wing camp -- still disheveled from the electoral defeat, occupied and blocked by Berlusconi, lacking orientation in terms of direction, formation and personnel -- could not guarantee more stability at this time than Prodi and his people."

An election now would just destroy the economic and atmospheric recovery that Italy had achieved during Prodi's nine months in power, continued the paper.

The government needs to make a pit stop

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung summed up the political crisis in Italy with the words of Luca di Montezemolo, chairman of Ferrari, who said, "The political system in Italy is like an old race car that needs a thorough maintenance check. Otherwise, Italy will always lag behind the competition, no matter who's in the driver's seat."

The Prodi crisis is an indication that Italy is in urgent need of electoral, said the paper. "The vicious circle of instability and political impotence can only be broken if the number of parties in parliament is reduced over the long-term and the prime minister has more power."

Prodi's left-center coalition is made up of nine or ten parties, depending on how they are counted, wrote FAZ, and the opposition has four parties.