Italian parliament meets to seek way out of election gridlock
(Reuters) - The Italian parliament convened on Friday for the first time since last month's deadlocked election with no sign of a deal to end the stalemate and yield a new government able to tackle reforms in the euro zone's troubled third-largest economy.
The parties have so far failed to find a way out of the impasse created by the election, which left the center left with a majority in the lower house but without the numbers to control the Senate and form a government.
Without that, an early return to the polls is the likely alternative, bringing more uncertainty and the threat of a renewed bout of financial market turmoil that helped topple Silvio Berlusconi's government in 2011.
Attempts by center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani to reach an accord with Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement have been rebuffed. Bersani has ruled out any deal with ex-premier Berlusconi, whose center-right bloc is the second-biggest force in parliament.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/15/us-italy-vote-parliament-idUSBRE92E0PO20130315