Boosted by the election of his candidate for state president, incoming Prime Minister Romano Prodi on Thursday turned his attention to preparing a government to tackle Italy's economic woes and heal political divisions.
"Now let's get down to work," he told reporters who asked him on Thursday about the make-up of his government.
The election on Wednesday of Giorgio Napolitano, an 80-year-old life senator and former communist, cleared the way for a rapid chain of events that should see the government assume full power by the end of next week.
Napolitano's victory showed that Prodi has the political stature to keep his troops in line in parliament, which will be crucial in the future as he tries to govern with a slim majority.
With credit rating agencies pushing for prompt action to tackle the country's struggling economy and wayward public finances, Prodi will have his work cut out for him.
Prodi's coalition, ranging from communists to centrist Roman Catholics, won last month's election by the smallest margin in modern Italian history.
Outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who waited three weeks before conceding defeat, on Thursday vowed that the opposition would give Prodi "no honeymoon period".
"We will present an opposition without pity," he said.