MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Italy’s centre-left Bersani resigns after party rebels and inflicts humiliating defeats

Florence mayor Matteo Renzi spoiled Bersani’s day and tarnished the figure of Romano Prodi

Italy’s centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani announced his resignation after party rebels sabotaged two separate candidates he had backed for state president, deepening the country’s political stalemate.

Bersani told a meeting of parliamentarians he would quit as Democratic Party (PD) leader as soon as the election of the next head of state was completed, following two dramatic days of parliamentary voting in which successive centre-left candidates were scuppered in secret ballots.

“He accepted his responsibility after the disgrace of what happened,” Paolo Gentiloni, a senior Democratic Party parliamentary deputy said after Bersani's announcement.

Disarray in the centre-left, which has the most seats in parliament, could make a snap election in the summer more likely to end the political deadlock, but there is no clarity about the next moves after weeks of chaos.

It is unclear who will take over leadership of the badly split party but Bersani's departure could clear the way for arch-rival Matteo Renzi, the dynamic 38-year-old mayor of Florence.

Bersani's announcement came shortly after former Prime Minister Romano Prodi announced he was pulling out of the race for president after more than 100 centre-left electors disobeyed Bersani's instructions to vote for him in parliament.

It was the last of a series of humiliating setbacks for Bersani and blunders that have shredded his ability to hold the centre-left bloc together.

The collapse of efforts to secure the presidency for Prodi, a respected international figure, underlined the deep fractures running through politics in a country still seeking a government nearly two months after February's inconclusive general election.

Bersani's proposal of Prodi as president sparked the fury of centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi, who was twice defeated by him in national elections.

Berlusconi's lawmakers boycotted the vote for president and protested outside parliament, accusing Bersani of breaking a promise to put forward a candidate the centre-right could accept. They said the move brought elections closer.

The vote was the fourth in a complex election process by 1,007 electors from both houses of parliament and the regional representatives.

Fifth and sixth votes are expected on Saturday but Berlusconi announced his group would again not participate unless there was an agreement on the president between the parties beforehand.