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I am sure of full term, says Prodi

ROME: Centre-left leader Romano Prodi said on Sunday he intended to govern Italy for the full five years of Parliament's term, and said Premier Silvio Berlusconi's refusal to acknowledge that the former won the elections is ``not my problem, it is his.'' Mr. Prodi spoke to Sky TG24 TV in Bologna, where he lives, a day after an Italian appeals court certified the final votes — in Mr. Prodi's favour — for the Senate, following Italy's April 9-10 election. A few days earlier, a separate court had confirmed Mr. Prodi's victory in the Lower House of Parliament.

``We will stay united, and we will stay so for five years,'' Mr. Prodi told Sky and other reporters. He was referring to Parliament's term, which is supposed to last for five years, though political crises over past decades have often seen early elections called.

In a rare political feat in Italy, Mr. Berlusconi's centre-right coalition, despite squabbles, was able to govern through the full term of the legislature. ``We won the elections and we have the right and the duty to govern,'' said Mr. Prodi, who took the Chamber of Deputies with a thin majority, and whose coalition holds a narrow majority of seats in the Senate. ``We will do so in the service and interests of the country.'' — AP

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