ROME: If winning the election proved hard for Romano Prodi, governing might prove mission impossible. Provisional results said Prodi’s centre-left bloc had gained clear control of the lower house of parliament but would only have a one or two seat advantage in the upper house Senate after the closest-fought ballot in modern Italian history.

The centre-right has contested the result and said that even if Prodi does take power, he will be a lame duck premier unable to keep a grip on his “Union” alliance that bridges a vast ideological span.

“I don’t think they will get very far down the road,” said Maurizio Gasparri, a leading politician in the conservative National Alliance party.

But the mild-mannered Prodi has a steely determination and told reporters on Tuesday he was confident he could rule for a full five-year term, pointing out that his first government in 1996 did not even have a parliamentary majority.

Prodi governed then thanks to the external support of the Communist Refoundation party, which, unlike today, was not part of his official coalition.

The communists finally brought him down in 1998, saying his policies were not left-wing enough.

If this week’s result is confirmed, Prodi will head the 61st Italian government since World War Two — a statistic that underlines the chronic instability that has racked politics.

But over the past five years Italy has got used to sturdier government, with Silvio Berlusconi holding his alliance together throughout an entire legislation — the first man to do so since Alcide De Gasperi in the 1950s.

But Berlusconi enjoyed the sort of majority Prodi can only dream about and will also need the support of many more parties than Berlusconi’s core, four-party alliance.

“I hope that Prodi will be able to whip up enough creative tension to guarantee some stability,” said Augusto Barbera, professor of constitutional rights at Bologna University.

“It’s like cycling. If you peddle fast you stay upright and stable, but if you don’t you fall over.”

On the left extreme of the Union stand committed communists while at the other end sit Roman Catholic centrists who will want to impose moderation.

In between, Greens activists will fight to get their agenda enacted, liberalists in the Radical party will take aim at Catholic social teachings and the largest party, the Democrats of the Left (DS), will demand the upper hand.

Prodi, a 66-year-old former European Commission president, will stand in the middle and have to try to harmonise the many voices emerging from his multi-party bloc.

Although critics say Prodi’s short-lived 1996 government does not augur well for the future, some political analysts think the experience will strengthen him.—Reuters