Italy head to dissolve parliament and call elections

By Philip Pullella

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president was due to dissolve parliament on Wednesday ahead of snap elections, likely in mid-April, that could mark a return to power of media magnate Silvio Berlusconi.

President Giorgio Napolitano held talks with the speakers of both houses of parliament on Tuesday -- the penultimate formal step mandated by the constitution before calling elections.

Caretaker Prime Minister Romano Prodi was due at the presidential palace at about 1030 GMT to counter-sign the presidential decree dissolving parliament some three years ahead of schedule.

Then Prodi was to hold a cabinet meeting to decide the timing of the two-day elections, with April 13-14 seen as the most likely dates.

Italy plunged into crisis after Prodi was forced to quit last month by defections in his centre-left coalition.

Napolitano had asked the speaker of the Senate to see if he could muster enough support for a temporary government to reform the electoral system.

But Berlusconi, 71, sensing a return to the post of prime minister he has held twice before, and other centre-right party leaders, demanded a snap election.

The centre right has had a consistent lead in surveys of voter intentions, ahead of the centre left by as much as 16 points by some estimates.