ROME, April 12: Italy faced protracted political limbo on Wednesday as Romano Prodi said he may not be able to form a new government before mid-May and a dispute over alleged irregularities in this week’s election added to the confusion.

Mr Prodi has claimed a wafer-thin victory for his centre-left bloc in the April 9-10 poll, but Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has refused to concede defeat and demanded checks on disputed ballots, saying there were ‘many murky aspects’ to the vote.

The election was the closest in Italy’s post-war history, with the centre-left winning in the lower house by a margin of just 25,000 votes out of 38.1 million cast.

The tight result has left many Italians wondering how long the next government will last and financial markets fretting that Mr Prodi will not have a big enough majority to push through unpopular reforms needed to revive the flagging economy.

Mr Prodi insisted that his victory was clear-cut and said he did not fear a review of the disputed ballots.

“I don’t have any fear whatsoever that the result will be overturned. It is a clean victory,” he told reporters.

He said he would probably have to wait until a new head of state was appointed by parliament next month before he could form a government.

As if to confirm a down-to-earth image that could not be more different from that of permanently suntanned Berlusconi, Mr Prodi later walked into Rome’s main station and took a train up to his native Bologna, where a victory party awaited him.

Under the constitution, it is up to the head of state to nominate a new government after consultation with party leaders.

Mr Prodi had wanted President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi to name him prime minister but Mr Ciampi, whose term ends on May 18, indicated that he wanted his successor to do this.—Reuters