By Barbie Nadeau

Even by Italian political standards, it was a bad week for Romano Prodi, Italy's now defunct prime minister. At various times over the past 20 months, it has seemed that the most Prodi's coalition had accomplished in power was, quite simply, not collapsing. Prodi's efforts to fight tax evasion and to reform various governmental entities were overshadowed by headlines about Neapolitan garbage and Spain bypassing Italian per capita GDP. Was there really anywhere for the former economics professor to go but down?

In Italian politics, the withdrawal of one small political party has often been the final straw for an entire coalition. On Monday, Italian justice minister Clemente Mastella, faced with a corruption inquiry alongside his wife, and, feeling abandoned by Prodi and his ruling, albeit fractured, coalition, pulled his tiny Udeur party's support. Mastella moved right to the opposition, led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. If it had not been Mastella this week, it would eventually have been someone else.

In his defense, Prodi could have taken an easier way out. Last night (Wednesday), he won a confidence vote in the house of deputies where he held a majority. He could have resigned then and avoided the fiasco of losing today's confidence vote in the senate, which would have allowed him to stay in power as caretaker. But, after meeting with president of the republic Giorgio Napolitano and key allies, he made an incredibly risky but somewhat honorable decision to let the constitution work. A confidence vote is the ultimate measure of one's political currency. By facing a vote in the senate he knew well that he would likely lose, he somehow rises above the fray -- at least a little bit. Still, tonight he must hand in his resignation to Napolitano, who will decide what to do next.

Napolitano's options include giving Prodi another chance (not likely) and calling snap elections (most likely), assigning a technocrat to run Italy in the interim. He will likely also insist that electoral reforms currently in deliberation be pushed through. Prodi was one of the strongest opponents of these reforms since they would have meant an end to his ruling coaliton. The reforms could, however, put an end to weeks like this in Italian politics.