Prodi: New president will give govt mandate

Centre-left leader Romano Prodi said negotiations would get under way soon to choose a new Italian president who will give his coalition the mandate to govern.

In an interview at his Rome headquarters with France’s Europe 1 radio, Prodi also repeated his rejection of Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s suggestion that the two coalitions form a “grand coalition” to govern, saying he was “certain” of his own victory, the Apcom news agency reported.