Will he or won't he? Italy awaits Monti's decision

Monti will announce his decision Sunday, ending weeks of speculation and jockeying that have dominated Italy's political discourse and preoccupied much of Europe, which is eager to see Monti's financial reforms continue in the continent's third-largest economy.

With polls showing a Monti-led list would only garner about 15 percent of the vote, all signs indicated he would refrain from campaigning or even allowing his name to be used on a political ticket grouping a handful of small centrist parties.

"Monti leaning towards a 'no'," the Turin daily La Stampa headlined Sunday. "Monti pulls back on running," Corriere della Sera said on its front page.

Whether he might endorse a centrist movement is another matter.

"It's clear that Monti's candidacy would give authority to our political platform, but we'll respect his choices, whatever they may be," said Pier Ferdinando Casini, one of the centrist leaders who have been actively courting Monti in recent weeks.

Monti resigned Friday after ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi's party withdrew its support from his technical government, forcing a crisis that brought a premature and chaotic end to the legislature's five-year term.

Monti was tapped by Italy's president to lead the country in late November 2011 after Berlusconi was forced to resign, having lost the confidence of international markets in his ability to save the country from a Greek-style debt crisis.