Italy's center-left coalition leader Romano Prodi on Tuesday urged his allies to start working together immediately to change the country, taking their election program as a roadmap.

The 280-page program, which took his allies several weeks to hammer out, was designed to bring Italy "peace, economic recovery and social harmony," Prodi said while addressing supporters in a windy Roman piazza.

He reaffirmed that he would pull Italian troops out of Iraq as soon as possible.

Incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said during the election campaign that he would withdraw Italian troops from Iraq by the end of the year.

Prodi said the center-left coalition now had five years to work on the priorities listed on its electoral platform: economic growth, environment, employment, education, tax and foreign policy.

"Now we have to start working together to implement the program and to change Italy. That's the only way we Italians can take a step forward," he said.

He also called on the center-right parties to collaborate on major reforms "for the good of the country."

Prodi noted that all his allies in the center-left coalition, ranging from communists to liberals and Catholics, had signed the joint program in a bid to ensure his camp would not unravel amid policy disputes.

His 1996-1998 government collapsed when one of the hardline left allies withdrew support for him.

Earlier Tuesday, Prodi's center-left claimed victory in Italy's parliamentary election, citing decisive votes from Italians abroad.

According to the state television RAI, the center-left gained 158 seats in the Senate, against the center-right's 156.

This razor-thin majority, coupled with a clearer advantage in the Lower House, ensured Prodi overall victory in the election and cleared the way for him to form a new government.

Source: Xinhua