Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has asked centre-left leader Matteo Renzi to form a new government following the resignation of former Prime Minister Enrico Letta last week, an official from the president's office said. Renzi, who met Napolitano for 90 minutes on Monday, will need to seal a formal coalition deal with the small centre-right NCD party to secure a governing majority and name his cabinet before seeking a formal vote of confidence in parliament later this week. He has promised a radical programme of action to lift Italy out of its most serious economic slump since World War II but will have to deal with the same unwieldy coalition which failed to pass major reforms under its previous leader. Al Jazeera's Claudio Lavanga reports from Rome.
