Prodi’s Presidential Bid Vulnerable in Secret Ballot
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Romano Prodi failed to win the Italian presidency in a parliamentary vote today as his wounded party was unable to maintain discipline and resistance from rival forces intensified.
Prodi, the two-time ex-prime minister and former European Commission president, as defections left him more than 100 votes short of a majority in the parliamentary vote in Rome. It was the fourth inconclusive ballot since voting started yesterday and dealt Pier Luigi Bersani, head of the Democratic Party, another defeat in his bid to unlock the impasse.