Italy's Mario Monti laid down the law on Sunday: he will consider staying on as premier after February elections,provided that enough followers rally around his political programme of "radical" centrist policies. Two days after resigning as the head of a technocratic administration, the 69-year-old non-partisan economist told Italian and foreign media that he was launching an "erga omnes" (towards all) manifesto to "Change Italy, Reform Europe. " If "one or more political forces" joined his cause and urged himto run as prime minister, "I would consider it," he added. " Many of his pledges - resisting populist calls to lower taxes, legislating on conflict-of-interest issues, liberalizing markets, reforming the justice system - are likely to be anathema to his predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi. Monti personally attacked the centre-right media mogul, ridiculing Berlusconi's claim of having been the most authoritative European Union leader when in office.
