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| Italy’s Premier Refuses to Commit to Running | Italy’s Premier Refuses to Commit to Running |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| ROME — While Prime Minister Mario Monti’s decision over the weekend to resign this month rattled Milan’s stock market and worried European leaders, Italian centrists stepped up their efforts on Monday to persuade him to join their political movements. | ROME — While Prime Minister Mario Monti’s decision over the weekend to resign this month rattled Milan’s stock market and worried European leaders, Italian centrists stepped up their efforts on Monday to persuade him to join their political movements. |
| But even as some groups tried to recruit him as a candidate to challenge former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the leader of the center-left Democratic Party, Pierluigi Bersani, urged Mr. Monti to refrain from running. | But even as some groups tried to recruit him as a candidate to challenge former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the leader of the center-left Democratic Party, Pierluigi Bersani, urged Mr. Monti to refrain from running. |
| “Precisely because Monti should still be able to be of service to this country, it would be better for him to stay out of the contest,” said Mr. Bersani, whose party now looks likely to place first in the coming national elections on a pro-Europe platform. | “Precisely because Monti should still be able to be of service to this country, it would be better for him to stay out of the contest,” said Mr. Bersani, whose party now looks likely to place first in the coming national elections on a pro-Europe platform. |
| For his part, Mr. Monti played down speculation about whether he would run in the elections, expected to take place in February. “I am not considering this particular issue at this stage,” he said in Oslo, where he was attending the ceremony at which the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. | For his part, Mr. Monti played down speculation about whether he would run in the elections, expected to take place in February. “I am not considering this particular issue at this stage,” he said in Oslo, where he was attending the ceremony at which the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. |
| He said he would devote his remaining time to the work of his current government, adding that the reaction of financial markets to his decision to step down “should not be dramatized.” | He said he would devote his remaining time to the work of his current government, adding that the reaction of financial markets to his decision to step down “should not be dramatized.” |
| In recent weeks, two centrist groupings have been actively courting Mr. Monti: the Union of Christian Democrats, led by Pier Ferdinando Casini, a former ally of Mr. Berlusconi; and Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the president of Ferrari who started a civic movement last month and said it would endorse Mr. Monti. | In recent weeks, two centrist groupings have been actively courting Mr. Monti: the Union of Christian Democrats, led by Pier Ferdinando Casini, a former ally of Mr. Berlusconi; and Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the president of Ferrari who started a civic movement last month and said it would endorse Mr. Monti. |
| In another significant development, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the leader of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, all but endorsed Mr. Monti. “What leaves one astonished is the irresponsibility of those who think of arranging things for themselves while the house is still burning,” Cardinal Bagnasco told the newspaper Corriere della Sera on Monday. | In another significant development, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the leader of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, all but endorsed Mr. Monti. “What leaves one astonished is the irresponsibility of those who think of arranging things for themselves while the house is still burning,” Cardinal Bagnasco told the newspaper Corriere della Sera on Monday. |
| No Italian government has survived without the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church, which is as much a political operation in Italy as a religious one. | No Italian government has survived without the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church, which is as much a political operation in Italy as a religious one. |
| The centrist movements do not have well-oiled political operations or even a clear constituency, but could be vessels for a potential Monti candidacy. If Mr. Monti gave them his support, that would significantly weaken the Democratic Party, which is unlikely to win enough seats in Parliament to govern without forming alliances with centrist groups. | The centrist movements do not have well-oiled political operations or even a clear constituency, but could be vessels for a potential Monti candidacy. If Mr. Monti gave them his support, that would significantly weaken the Democratic Party, which is unlikely to win enough seats in Parliament to govern without forming alliances with centrist groups. |
| A moderate former Communist, Mr. Bersani is seen as part of the old guard of the Democratic Party and recently won a hard-fought primary race against Matteo Renzi, the 37-year-old mayor of Florence. Mr. Bersani has pledged to adhere to Mr. Monti’s cost-cutting agenda. But his party is seen as beholden to unions, which have challenged changes to Italian labor laws that could make it easier for businesses to hire and fire employees. | A moderate former Communist, Mr. Bersani is seen as part of the old guard of the Democratic Party and recently won a hard-fought primary race against Matteo Renzi, the 37-year-old mayor of Florence. Mr. Bersani has pledged to adhere to Mr. Monti’s cost-cutting agenda. But his party is seen as beholden to unions, which have challenged changes to Italian labor laws that could make it easier for businesses to hire and fire employees. |
| Still, some analysts say that a Bersani government would be in tune with President François Hollande of France, a Socialist, and could serve as a counterbalance in Europe to an increasingly powerful Germany. | |
| But even if Mr. Monti decides to run, it remains to be seen whether his austerity program would win over Italian voters. Mr. Monti, an economist who was asked to form a government last year after Mr. Berlusconi resigned, may have raised Italy’s profile on the world stage, but many Italians know him as the unelected leader who raised taxes and the retirement age and made it harder for small businesses to survive. | But even if Mr. Monti decides to run, it remains to be seen whether his austerity program would win over Italian voters. Mr. Monti, an economist who was asked to form a government last year after Mr. Berlusconi resigned, may have raised Italy’s profile on the world stage, but many Italians know him as the unelected leader who raised taxes and the retirement age and made it harder for small businesses to survive. |
| Mr. Berlusconi, who is not expected to win enough votes to govern, is likely to try to tap into that popular discontent. The former prime minister has always been the id of Italy, but for his next act, he may well become the id of Europe, a populist force that rails against the single currency even as he outwardly supports it. | Mr. Berlusconi, who is not expected to win enough votes to govern, is likely to try to tap into that popular discontent. The former prime minister has always been the id of Italy, but for his next act, he may well become the id of Europe, a populist force that rails against the single currency even as he outwardly supports it. |
| While saying that he had always been a “a convinced Europeanist” who had always fought for a Europe with single currency, Mr. Berlusconi, in a statement on Monday, criticized foreign news organizations that questioned, or even mocked, his return to politics. | While saying that he had always been a “a convinced Europeanist” who had always fought for a Europe with single currency, Mr. Berlusconi, in a statement on Monday, criticized foreign news organizations that questioned, or even mocked, his return to politics. |
| “It would be too simple to connect this interference with the umpteenth speculative maneuver aimed at weakening our businesses and making them the easy prey of foreign buyers,” he said. | “It would be too simple to connect this interference with the umpteenth speculative maneuver aimed at weakening our businesses and making them the easy prey of foreign buyers,” he said. |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: December 11, 2012 | |
An earlier version of this article misidentified the office held by François Hollande. He is the president of France, not its prime minister. |