Monti bis?

By most accounts, during Europe's on-going crisis over the euro, Italy's prime minister, Mario Monti, has been a key leader.  His voice has been one of the most forceful arguing against Chancellor Merkel and budget austerity, and arguing for collective responsibility and a strong Europe.  And domestically, he and his government seem to have made progress on several fronts where earlier governments did nothing.  The contrast with Italy's last prime minister couldn't be greater.  But Monti's term in office runs out next spring and Italy is supposed to have elections for a new government.  The problem is that leaders of the various political parties haven't yet decided firmly on a date for the elections or on a voting system to replace the current one, which is generally despised, among other reasons, for giving much too much power to these same party leaders.  In the face of much uncertainty about Italy's immediate political future, Monti recently said that, if asked and if it's really necessary, he would be willing continue in office. 

In a sense, all of the above is an introduction to a recent blog post by James Walston, which does an excellent job of summarizing the reaction from the party leaders to Monti's statement.  See here.  Will there be a "Monti bis," as it's being called?  Walston doesn't say.  My guess, for what it's worth, is that there will be.  In any case, it will be fun to follow this over the next few months.