Berlusconi's crisis and formation of new government.(ANSA) By.MUNTAZIR HASSANALI

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has formed a new coalition government, ending the country's worst political crisis in four years. Mr Berlusconi, who had led Italy's longest serving government since 1945, appointed new ministers for industry, communication, health and culture. But he did not change the key economy, foreign and interior portfolios. Observers say Mr Berlusconi wants to maintain the coalition at all costs ahead of elections due in May 2006. The entire new government was sworn …

…top job. The devolutionist Northern League held onto the reforms ministry. Italy's opposition branded the new coalition a "minestrone" referring to a tired recycling of the same political ingredients. "This is just a rancid second course dish that has been reheated," said former anti-graft magistrate Antonio Di Pietro, who is a prominent centre-left politician. "Sadly, the country will have to live through more months of uncertainty and economic asphyxiation," he told the Ansa news agency.