Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Aerospace & Defense
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Campaign Polling
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Anatole Kaletsky
Reihan Salam
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Mark Leonard
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Editor's choice
Our best photos from the last 24 hours. Slideshow
Images of August
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Assange mocks Obama via video at U.N. event
12:17am EDT
Google says Maps not waiting in wings for iPhone 5
25 Sep 2012
Netanyahu to set "clear red line" for Iran in U.N. speech
8:42am EDT
Durable goods drop worst since recession
8:37am EDT
Insight: As cotton surged, China trader amassed $510 million bet
1:56am EDT
Discussed
127
Iran ready to defend against Israeli attack: Ahmadinejad
123
Egypt Salafi urges U.N. to criminalize contempt of Islam
107
In Ohio, Romney tries new approach: empathy for the jobless
Sponsored Links
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Exploring Yosemite
A look at picturesque Yosemite National Park . Slideshow
Images from Hubble
Striking images from the Hubble Telescope. Slideshow
Monti says he would consider heading Italy government again
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Berlusconi interview to launch Huffington Post Italy
Mon, Sep 24 2012
EU pushes more moves to stem debt crisis
Sat, Sep 8 2012
Relief in Italy at ECB plan, Monti says reforms must continue
Fri, Sep 7 2012
Merkel tells Monti his reforms will bear fruit
Wed, Aug 29 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Counterparties: The never-ending story of the Euro crisis
Austerity in the dock as Europe’s debt-stricken leaders meet
Related Topics
World »
Italy »
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York September 27, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
By Nicola Scevola
NEW YORK |
Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:06pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Italy's technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti gave the first clear indication on Thursday that he would be willing to head the government again if there is no outright winner in elections next year, as opinion polls now suggest.
Monti has headed an unelected government since former premier Silvio Berlusconi stepped down in November, imposing austerity reforms to keep the country from a Greek-style debt debacle.
Financial markets have been fretting over what government might succeed the Monti administration as Italy's political parties - discredited by their mismanagement of the economy and a long series of corruption scandals - are in disarray seven months before the election.
"I hope there will be a clear result with a clear possibility for whatever majority to be formed and for a government led by a political leader," Monti said during a briefing at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
"Should there be circumstances in which they were to believe that I could serve helpfully after that period of elections, I will be there, I will consider, I cannot preclude anything."
Business leaders and European officials have said they would like to see Monti continue leading Italy so that the reform process is not turned back, but most of Italy's parties are already campaigning against the tax increases and pension cuts he has made.
The yield on Italian benchmark bonds fell after Monti made the remarks, with the spread against safer Germany bunds narrowing to around 3.68 percentage points from around 3.76 points earlier in the day.
Nicholas Spiro, head of Spiro Sovereign Strategy, said Monti's stance would be "music to the ears of investors and is likely to underpin the recent improvement in Italy's perceived creditworthiness".
At an auction earlier on Thursday Italian 10-year bond yields fell to 5.2 percent from 5.8 percent at the previous sale, while yields on 5-year borrowing declined to 4.1 percent, the lowest since May 2011.
OPPOSITION
Political reaction among opposition groups in parliament was less favorable, with several members saying Monti should be a candidate in the election if he wanted to carry on as premier.
"He should run for office like in a normal democracy and put an end to short cuts that mean he only represents himself and his friends," said Felice Belisario of the opposition People of Values party.
The 69-year-old Monti repeated that he would not stand in the national vote because it would destabilize the right-left coalition that now supports him. But Monti does not need to be elected to qualify to become prime minister because he was appointed a senator for life last year.
It is still not clear who the candidates for the two biggest parties will be, and even the voting law may be changed before April, the deadline for the election.
If the current election system is used, polls suggest the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and its allies would win the lower house, but in the upper house, or Senate, the result would be unclear. That would require another right-left alliance like the one that now backs Monti in parliament, or a whole new vote.
Monti, a former economist and European commissioner, continues to be Italy's most popular politician. His approval rating was 42 percent in mid-September, compared with 26 percent for PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani, an opinion poll showed last week.
Berlusconi, who leads the largest centre-right party, had an approval rating of 18 percent, and Beppe Grillo, the comedian who heads the new Five-Star Movement, had a 25 percent rating.
During the same talk, Monti said that Greece's exit from the euro zone would cause "damage to the whole system" and that he does not think it will happen.
(Reporting by Gavin Jones; Writing by Steve Scherer; Editing by Giles Elgood and David Stamp)
World
Italy
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.