ROME (AP) – Italy’s president Friday asked Silvio Berlusconi to form a new government, two days after the conservative media mogul stepped down as premier following a crushing defeat in regional elections.

The new government would be Italy’s 60th since the republic was founded in 1946.

Berlusconi must submit a list of new ministers to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and those ministers could be sworn in as soon as Saturday. Berlusconi also said he expects to go before parliament for a confidence vote next week.

“Within a few days the entire government team will be at work,” Berlusconi told reporters.

The conservative leader said the government’s new platform would focus on aiding Italy’s underdeveloped south and financially pressed families – as demanded by some of his political allies, including the National Alliance party.

“The focus of our action is the revival of businesses, the defense of the purchasing power of families and a plan of action for the south with the creation of new jobs,” he said.

Berlusconi’s troubles stem from his conservative coalition’s embarrassing defeat in regional elections this month, where it lost 12 out the 14 regions at stake.

Voters have punished the premier mainly because of Italy’s sluggish economy, which grew by 1.2 percent last year, compared with an average growth of 2 percent in the 12 nations using the euro currency.

Berlusconi also faces strong popular opposition to his decision to send 3,000 troops to support the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Pressure to pull out the troops mounted last month after U.S. troops in Baghdad mistakenly killed an Italian intelligence agent who was escorting a released hostage.

Berlusconi resigned Wednesday, saying he wanted to immediately form a new, more solid government to strengthen his faltering center-right coalition.

Following Berlusconi’s resignation, Ciampi had two options: dissolve parliament and call early elections, or designate a premier to assemble a new government in hopes it will last until the legislature’s term ended in mid-2006. He chose Berlusconi to form a new government.

The ruling coalition’s defeat in April 3-4 regional elections prompted Berlusconi’s allies to demand he step down and form a reshuffled Cabinet – a technique used by several Italian premiers in the past to strengthen faltering coalitions.

Berlusconi, who was elected in 2001 and led Italy’s longest-serving postwar government, initially resisted stepping down, sensing it would undermine his image as a new-style politician.