APCOM

Germany has Angela Merkel, its first female chancellor, and Hillary Rodham Clinton is vying for the White House in the United States. When will Italy be ready for a woman head of government?

With political change in the air in Rome after the fall of Romano Prodi's center-left government, none of the solutions on tap puts a woman politician in contention to run Europe's fourth largest economy. But Milano's Mayor Letizia Moratti, one of Italy's leading female politicians who has served as education minister under Berlusconi, thinks a women's time will come in Italy, it's just a question of the right moment.

There still has not been a woman President in Italy, and no woman to date has been in contention to run the country. Women in Italian politics have sometimes floated the idea of seeking a quota for female members of parliament, but the initiative has never taken off.

"Personally, I don't think that Italy is conditioned against having a woman (as head of government). I don't see it," Moratti said. "I don't think it is a question of not being ready for a female leader, not on the part of the citizens nor on the part of politicians."

Moratti's is among the names that have been bandied when the idea of a female leader has been aired. A political ally of Berlusconi's, Moratti was elected as Milano's Mayor in the same elections that brought Romano Prodi to power 20 months ago.

She said she was not giving any thought to the possibility of one day seeking higher office in Rome. "I have never made plans about what I would like to be doing later. I prefer to stay concentrated on what I am doing right now," Moratti said.

As for the government crisis in Rome, Moratti said that despite impressions abroad of political instability, "Italy is a country that is able to overcome moments of transition."