The exasperated head of Italy’s Center-Left bloc can’t reach a deal to form a new government, leading him to declare that “Only a mentally ill person could have a burning desire to govern right now."

This comes after the insurgent Five Star Movement (M5S) rejected Pier Luigi Bersani’s center-Left Coalition.  The anti-establishment group won a surprising 25 percent in the last elections, which is just enough to throw a monkey wrench (spanner?) into the works.

Although M5S might share some common goals with the Left in the abstract, such as expanded education and employment, its opposition to establishment bodies such the European Union are hurdles too big to clear.  The Left holds a majority in only one house of parliament, and the upper house is in disarray.

Bersani has ruled out forming a government with the right-wingers led by former Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi and his litany of legal problems including child sex charges and allegations of corruption.

If a ruling coalition cannot be formed, new elections take place as early as June.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti is sick of it all, too.  He says he “can’t wait” to leave office.