Prime Minister Is Expected to Resign

Massimo D’Alema will resign as prime minister of Italy and his center-left coalition will start searching for a head of government able to hold back opposition pressure for a snap general election. D’Alema, wounded by the center-right’s strong showing in regional elections Sunday, was due to address the Senate at 10 a.m. today. Political sources said the leader of the former Communists would announce his irrevocable decision to quit as premier after 18 months in power, then deliver the same speech to the Chamber of Deputies. His decision means that there is no need for a confidence vote, sparing the faltering center-left the risk that it might not be able to muster its slim majority in the lower house. D’Alema was expected to tell both chambers of parliament that the center-left bloc that won the 1996 elections had a right to see through its five-year term.