If "one or more political forces" joined his cause and urged him to run as prime minister, "I would consider it," he added. Monti cited as inspiration an October article by the British weekly The Economist on "true progressivism." This was, he explained, "a new form of radical centrist politics (...) needed to tackle inequality without hurting economic growth."
Many of his pledges - resisting populist calls to lower taxes, legislating on conflict-of-interest issues, liberalising 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.
"Everybody in Europe knows that this has never been the case," he said. He referred indirectly to a humiliating October 2011 press conference in Brussels, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then French president Nicolas Sarkozy looked at each other and smirked when asked if they had confidence in Berlusconi's economic reforms. "You can get hurt when you bang your fist, and it is useless ... you need to know how to negotiate to have made your county credible. Otherwise, after the pats on the back, comes the sniggering, comes inaction and comes even less consideration of Italy's needs."
But Italy's outgoing premier also took on leftist rivals, saying opposition by the CGIL trade union and the Left, Ecology and Freedom (SEL) party to his labour reforms reflected "a blind adherence to visions of the past, which perhaps were noble in the past, but harmful today." Monti's double-pronged attack is a gamble. While he is widely recognised as competent, many Italians resent the steep tax hikes he has introduced. But, if successful, he may bring about a radical shake-up of national politics.
In the current set-up, a centre-left alliance formed by the Democratic Party (PD) and SEL is poised to win elections due on February 24-25, even though it may not secure a clear parliamentary majority. Berlusconi's camp is trailing on 20-25 per cent, whereas centrist parties friendly to Monti are on around 10 per cent. But if Monti's agenda attracted enough support, a sizeable part of the PD could break ranks with the CGIL and SEL and join a new ruling coalition, featuring centrist parties and rebels from Berlusconi's camp.
Speaking on RAI state broadcaster, Monti said even PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani was "aware of the contrasts" within his party, and added that it was "possible" and "not dramatic" if some PD members broke ranks and joined his side. When he was appointed in November 2011 to replace Berlusconi amid an acute financial crisis, Monti was meant to be a temporary fixture of Italian politics. The understanding was that he would fix the economy and then withdraw from public office.
But, as Italy regained international standing that had been damaged by the diplomatic blunders, sex scandals and corruption allegations associated with the Berlusconi era, calls have multiplied for Monti not to leave the stage. The man Italians call Il Professore (The Professor) is now seizing his chance. But on his terms.