Romano Prodi has again urged Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to admit defeat in the country's general election.
Mr Prodi made his call after the Italian interior ministry whittled down the number of contested ballots from 80,000 to just 5,000. He also called on Mr Berlusconi to apologise for suggesting that electoral fraud had taken place.
However, Mr Berlusconi said he is still confident of being declared the winner.
In a letter to an Italian newspaper, Mr Berlusconi said the results were not clear cut, adding that the country is facing a stalemate.
However, official figures show there are too few disputed ballots to deprive the centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi of victory.
