Italy's President, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, has said he will not serve a second term in office when his mandate expires next month.
Mr Ciampi, 85, said when he leaves the presidency on 18 May he will work as a life senator, a post given to all former presidents in Italy.
Under the Italian constitution it is up to the president to give a new government its mandate. Romano Prodi had hoped that Mr Ciampi would install his coalition in office before his current term expired, but the president has so far refused to do so.
The incoming parliament is scheduled to elect a president in mid-May and Mr Ciampi would have been a favourite for re-election if he had agreed to carry on.
The new president will play a crucial role in trying to repair the damage from last week's election in which centre-left leader Romano Prodi won a razor-thin victory over Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who refuses to acknowledge the results.
The new president must hold consultations with party leaders from across the political spectrum before nominating the person he thinks has the best chance of governing.
That will almost certainly be Mr Prodi - unless Mr Berlusconi's accusations of widespread vote fraud are accepted by Italy's top appeals court, something that is looking increasingly unlikely.
The appeals court is expected to issue a final verdict on the election result some time this week. It has given no clearer indication of when an announcement will come.
