ROME (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi's center-left coalition discussed electoral system reform, seen as essential to improve political stability in a country that has seen more than 60 post-war governments.

Prodi told reporters after the meeting that the debate had "gone well" but gave no further details.

His coalition issued a statement saying that party chiefs had "positively assessed" a proposal drawn up by Vannino Chiti, the minister of relations with parliament and reform.

"The bill aims to guarantee bipolarity, pluralism, govern ability and balanced representation," it said.

Chiti said the reform seeks to reduce the proliferation of small parties and introduce a more direct relationship between voters and MPs.

The present electoral law, introduced by Prodi's predecessor Silvio Berlusconi just four months before the April 2006 elections, returned Italy to the proportional representation system that analysts regard as the root cause of the country's political instability since World War II.

The voting system gives Prodi a workable majority in the House but not the Senate, where the prime minister holds only two more seats than the Berlusconi-led opposition.

Meanwhile, Prodi heads a nine-party coalition that ranges from Communists to Catholics, which left Prodi weak and at the mercy of the numerous small parties in his alliance and their conflicting demands.