(CNN) -- It has been nearly four weeks since Italians went to the polls and the country is still drifting rudderless without a functioning government. This week, political leaders are holding two days of crucial talks with Italy's ceremonial president of the republic, Giorgio Napolitano. The talks began Wednesday morning and are expected to conclude at 6 p.m. Thursday in Rome. Italy's February elections were inconclusive, and have created a political gridlock that is hobbling the country's economy. The nation is currently in its longest recession in 20 years. It's economy -- Europe's third-largest with a government debt the Treasury Ministry puts at $2.6 trillion -- shrank by 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, Eurobarometer says.
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Talks led by President Giorgio Napolitano begin Wednesday in an effort to forge a government
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Napolitano said he will first try to get agreement on Pierluigi Bersani as prime minister
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Bersani's party holds the lower house, but is vying in the Senate with Silvio Berlusconi's party
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With no agreement, new parliamentary elections would be scheduled
Italians
Italy
Italy
@placeholder's hung parliament met for the first time on Friday, when ministers began the process of electing leaders of the lower house and the Senate.
Silvio Berlusconi
@placeholder is currently awaiting a verdict in a trial in which he stands accused of paying an underage prostitute for sex on more than 13 occasions and abusing his office to protect her in an unrelated crime.
Silvio Berlusconi
@placeholder has indicated that he does not agree with Bersani's judicial and criminal reforms and that he would not work with the center-left as long as those items are on the agenda.
Giorgio Napolitano
Giorgio Napolitano
Napolitano
To further complicate matters, @placeholder's mandate as president ends on May 15.
Giorgio Napolitano
Giorgio Napolitano
Napolitano
That means that either with or without a prime minister, Italy's hung parliament must begin the process of electing a new president to replace @placeholder.