Italy's Bersani asked to lead government, faces uphill task

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said Friday he had asked centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani to try break a post-election deadlock and form a new government, and report back to him 'as soon as possible,' dpa reported. Bersani, a former communist who turned into a market liberalizer when serving as a minister in previous centre-left administrations, faces an uphill task and is not at all guaranteed to become Italy's next prime minister. He is facing a stalemate, as in elections last month no coalition won overall control of the two houses of parliament. His centre-left alliance has a safe majority in the Chamber of Deputies, but is 35 seats short of a Senate majority. 'I will get down to work,' Bersani said, indicating he would talk to all political forces as well as social partners.