Rome - ITALY has entered a second week of uncertainty with the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, still refusing to recognise the narrow victory of Romano Prodi in last week's general election.

Although the Ministry of the Interior has confirmed the centre-left coalition's victory after a recount, Mr Berlusconi continues to advocate a government of national unity.

As Mr Berlusconi retreated to his Sardinian mansion for the Easter break, his most senior aide kept up a verbal attack on Mr Prodi, accusing the centre-left leader of rubbing salt in Italy's post-electoral wounds by brushing aside Mr Berlusconi's offer of power-sharing talks.

"Silvio Berlusconi has shown he is ready to start a series of discussions. Yet all we've seen from Prodi are muscular responses," Paolo Bonaiuti said on Sunday.

Mr Berlusconi argues that because the vote shows the country is split in two, a government of national unity is needed to settle urgent questions such as the imminent election of a new president and approval of supply.

It sounds like a statesman-like proposal, but he threatens that if it is not accepted, he will block every centre-left initiative.

The ball is now in the court of the President, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, 86, who was treasurer in the first Prodi government, from 1996 to 1998, but whose impartiality is widely acknowledged.

Mr Ciampi has said he will step down at the end of his term, on May 13, allowing his successor to give Mr Prodi the mandate to govern. But now it seems he might move more quickly, nominating Mr Prodi early next month.

Before the presidential election, parliament must elect a president of both houses. A two-thirds majority is needed in the first four ballots, but from the fifth a simple majority suffices. Parties prefer to reach an agreement to avoid surprises in the secret ballot, but Mr Berlusconi threatens to block any agreement unless his national unity government is accepted.

The outlook of many in the Berlusconi coalition who consider him a liability is captured in a cartoon in the Communist Party newspaper, L'Unita. It shows coalition members at the stairway of a St Helena Airlines jet as Napoleon (Mr Berlusconi) mounts the stairs. He waves to them, asking, "You're sure it's only for 100 days?"