Italy's Pier Luigi Bersani asked by president to try to form government Pier Luigi Bersani talks to the press at the Quirinale presidential palace in Rome after he got the go-ahead to try to form Italy's next government even though his coalition failed to win an overall majority. Photograph: Afp/AFP/Getty President Giorgio Napolitano made a first attempt at resolving Italy's political gridlock as he asked the centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani to see if he had enough support to form a government out of the inconclusive results of last month's parliamentary election. Almost a month after Italians went to the polls, the 87-year-old head of state said on Friday that the beleaguered Democratic party (PD) chief was best placed to try to create a government out of the country's fractured party political landscape. Speaking at the Quirinale Palace after meeting Bersani, Napolitano said the decision marked the beginning of a "decisive phase" for Italy. He stressed that Bersani would need to find out if he could attain a secure majority in both houses of parliament. The PD leader said he would start work immediately but added: "I will take the time that is needed. It is a difficult situation. The task ahead is tough and it remains unclear how Bersani, a former communist with a track record of reform, will find the backing he needs. If he cannot, Napolitano may feel a caretaker government led by a high-profile figure is the only solution. In that scenario, fresh elections would almost certainly be held later this year. Since the shock results of 25 February, Bersani has repeatedly attempted to win support from outside the PD for a limited agenda of reform, focusing on issues such as corruption, electoral reform and jobs. However, the 61-year-old has failed to appeal to political forces outside the PD, and has also had to face discontent from within his own party, which is furious that a double-digit lead in the polls was almost erased after a lacklustre campaign. Many suspect that with the young mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, at the helm, the PD would have attracted those voters who ended up casting their ballots for the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S). The PD-led centre-left coalition has an outright majority in the lower house of parliament, or chamber, but only leads a centre-right bloc headed by Silvio Berlusconi's Freedom People (PdL) party by a handful of seats in the senate. It is the M5S, founded by the former comedian Beppe Grillo, which holds the balance of power - but Grillo has ruled out backing a Bersani-led administration in the vote needed to form a government. Bersani, for his part, has ruled out forming a grand coalition with the centre-right. The paralysis in the eurozone's third-largest economy continues to unnerve foreign observers. Earlier this week the Swedish finance minister, Anders Borg, said there was a "significant risk to the world economy" from prolonged political uncertainty in Italy.