“Monti told us he would have never accepted a temporary mandate and that his government would try to see out the natural end of the current legislature,” said Francesco Pionati, who leads the small Alliance of the Centre party, after talks with Monti.

“Monti explained that his timeframe is 2013, and he stressed that this would in any case represent a short time to resolve all of the country’s structural problems,” Pionati added. Pionati was among various political representatives who on Monday held talks with Monti on his political program and the composition of his future Cabinet.

Another legislator, Roberto Antonione, said Monti had also indicated he would prefer a Cabinet made up of both technocrats but also representatives of Italy’s main political parties.

“He [Monti] said clearly that he want a political representation at the highest levels of government, and when we asked him if by this he meant at the minister level, he replied: ‘yes,’” Antonione said.

Monti’s consultations were set to continue on Tuesday and would include meetings with representatives of outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom Party.

Pressure from Germany

MEANWHILE, pressure on Monti to move swiftly increased after Italy’s borrowing costs jumped sharply in the latest auction of government bonds. The yield on $4.1 billion worth of five-year bonds rose to 6.29 percent as investors worried about the enormous challenge Monti faces in pushing forward a tough debt-reduction plan. The interest rate in a similar auction in October was 5.32 percent.

Italy’s partners in the euro zone, of which the country is the third largest economy, also voiced their concerns.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed through a spokesman “hopes [that] a new Italian government will be in place soon and that austerity measures will be implemented quickly.”

“According to her view, it is important that austerity and reform measures will be put into practice rapidly and without losing time,” the spokesman said.

EU Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn signaled that replacing Berlusconi with Monti was not enough to cure Italy.

“It is clear that our analysis of the Italian economy does not change because of a change in government,” said Amadeu Altafaj, a spokesman for Rehn.

Perilous situation

CITING Italy’s perilous situation, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano canceled his attendance at a United Nations World Food Program meeting in Rome, where he had been scheduled to deliver the keynote speech.

“You will understand how the delicate and crucial crisis...prevents me from being with you this morning,” Napolitano said in a message to the WFP. Monti’s next round of consultations were scheduled to include meetings with union leaders and Emma Marcegaglia, the head of Italy’s influential business lobby Confindustria.

“It is very important that this government is formed quickly and begins to introduce fundamental reforms to stimulate economic growth,” Marcegaglia said.

Napolitano on Sunday conferred a mandate to form a new government on Monti following Berlusconi’s resignation as premier.

Monti, a former EU commissioner and a widely respected economist, has pledged to focus on tackling a crippling debt crisis and to promote economic growth.

(MCT-dpa)