ROME – Italy entered a fresh phase of post-election agony yesterday as it emerged that the country must muddle along for a month – and perhaps longer – without a new government.

Romano Prodi, the weekend’s apparent winner, announced that there would be no reversal of the result, insisting that his victory was safe despite Silvio Berlusconi’s demand for a recount.

However, several boxes full of ballot papers were discovered at a Rome garbage dump, intensifying the atmosphere of chaos and confusion dogging the bitterly fought contest.

The boxes, which were stamped with the interior ministry’s crest, have now been taken to be counted.

Mr. Berlusconi, a billionaire tycoon, said there had been “many shady aspects” to the election and expressed confidence that he would be declared the victor by the Supreme Court.

He needs a mere 25,000 votes out of around 43,000 disputed ballots to close the gap between his right-of-center alliance and Mr. Prodi’s left coalition to control the lower house.

Mr. Prodi attempted to ignore the row, saying he would start choosing his cabinet in the next few days. He also rejected his rival’s suggestion that the two sides “sit down at a table” and work together.

“There is no need for a Germany-style coalition because we have the majority to govern,” he said, a reference to the SPD/CDU, left-right alliance now in power in Berlin.

Mr. Prodi, when asked if he had any ideas on improving Italy’s relations with its EU partners, volatile under Mr. Berlusconi, answered: “The first would be good manners.”

Neither Tony Blair nor President Bush have formally acknowledged Mr. Prodi’s victory. But President Chirac of France and Chancellor Merkel of Germany have both congratulated the former head of the European Commission.

Italy’s own head of state, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, issued an official statement saying he would not declare a victor in the battle and he would leave the decision up to his successor.

Without a presidential endorsement, no new government can be formed and only Mr. Ciampi steps down on May 18.

He and Mr. Prodi met yesterday morning but, according to Mr. Prodi, the encounter was merely to “wish each other happy Easter.”

Many Italians deplored Mr. Ciampi’s reluctance to intervene. There was no reason not to proceed once the election result was clear, Andrea Manzella, a left-wing former adviser to Mr. Ciampi, told Corriere della Sera.

Italy will now continue to be ruled by Mr. Berlusconi, its prime minister since 2001, until May 18 at the earliest.

In the interim, MP’s must meet to vote for a new president who could end the deadlock. But there is no obvious candidate who would appeal to both sides of the political divide.

Mr. Berlusconi himself has made little secret of his ambition to become head of state. But Mr. Prodi insisted that there was “no possibility” that he would allow the orange-tanned showman to take the job.

“It is going to be very difficult to find somebody but this has happened before,” a historian at University College London, John Foot, said. “At one point in the 1970s it took 22 votes.”

“It could be two months,” a political scientist at the University of Naples, Mauro Calise, said. “This is a typical Italian way of complicating things that are already very complicated.”

Mr. Ciampi is likely to change his mind and endorse a victor when the Supreme Court delivers its own verdict, Mr. Calise predicted. If that happened, Mr. Prodi could choose his own man as the next president.