Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday he was ready to support a coalition government with centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, but rejected another technocrat administration like the outgoing one led by Mario Monti.
“Our position has not changed, we expressed it with absolute clarity to the president,” centre-right leader Berlusconi told reporters after meeting president Giorgio Napolitano.
He said he believed there was room for agreement on a series of measures to address Italy’s economic crisis but insisted that any government must be made up of political parties “given the tragic experience” of the Monti government.
Roberto Maroni, leader of Berlusconi’s Northern League ally, also rejected another technocrat government, saying it would be better to go hold another election, after a vote in February that left the country deadlocked.
His announcement comes as Napolitano is meeting political leaders to try to break a month-old stalemate after general elections left no party with enough seats to be able to form a government.
