FORD
04-11-2006, 12:02 AM
Italy's Prodi ahead in election
Mon Apr 10, 2006 12:42 PM ET
By Crispian Balmer
ROME (Reuters) - Center-left leader Romano Prodi looked on course to beat Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Italy's general election, exit polls said on Monday, but initial counting indicated that he had only a narrow lead.
Pollsters said the result could be especially close in the upper house of parliament (Senate), and leaders of the centre-right alliance refused to concede defeat.
Center-left leaders said they saw clear signs that the nation had nonetheless turned against Berlusconi, punishing him for failing to deliver on promises to revive the lagging economy and slash taxes.
According to an exit poll by the Nexus research institute, Prodi's Union coalition was set to win between 50 and 54 percent of the vote in both the lower and upper houses of parliament, giving it a working majority in the two chambers.
Berlusconi's center-right bloc was shown winning 45 to 49 percent of the vote according to the poll, broadcast by state television RAI after voting ended in the two-day election.
Three hours after polls closed, counting was going slower than expected.
Nexus said that based on a sample of 15 percent of the vote in the Senate, the center-left had won 50.4 percent of ballots cast against 48.6 percent for the center-right.
This would give Prodi some 158 of the Senate's 315 seats with 151 seats going to Berlusconi and his allies.
Pollsters said they noted stronger than expected support for center-right parties in key regions, including Piedmont and Puglia, which could yet swing the Senate Berlusconi's way.
Different voting ages and different counting methods apply for the two houses, but a government needs the support of both to take power and pass laws.
The interior ministry indicated that turnout was set to be more than 83 percent against 81.4 percent in 2001. Berlusconi always maintained that a high turnout would benefit him.
Official results are due by the end of Monday.
HISTORIC?
Prodi's center-left alliance, which stretches from Roman Catholic centrists to communists, had led in opinion polls for the past two years, benefiting from widespread voter discontent over the stagnant economy and rising cost of living.
"This is a result of historic proportions," said Massimo D'Alema, a former leftist prime minister commenting on the exit polls.
Berlusconi, Italy's richest man who created the country's biggest media empire, dominated the often ill-tempered election campaign with a string of outbursts, gaffes and last-minute promises to cut taxes.
Center-right leaders reacted cautiously to the exit polls.
"It's not entirely clear that we've been beaten," said Denis Verdini, a lawmaker in Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.
Early returns said Forza Italia had polled between 20-23 percent of the vote -- down from 29.4 percent in 2001.
Although this is a sharp decline, it would still make the group the largest single force in Italian politics, enabling Berlusconi to keep control of the center-right bloc.
Prodi, 66, beat Berlusconi in a 1996 general election, but his government lasted only two years before it was brought down by disgruntled communist allies.
Critics say any new government headed by the occasionally prickly Prodi will suffer a similar fate because of the gaping ideological divide within his multi-party alliance.
Prodi insisted throughout the campaign that his coalition could survive a full five-year term, noting that unlike in 1996 his allies had signed up to a 289-page manifesto that will serve as a road map for any centre-left government.
The manifesto pledges to cut labor taxes, provide bigger handouts for families with children, reintroduce an inheritance tax, scrap plans to raise the age of retirement to 60 and launch a crackdown on tax evasion.
On foreign policy, Prodi has vowed a swift withdrawal of Italian troops sent to Iraq by Berlusconi, who is one of U.S. President George W. Bush's closest allies in Europe.
If Prodi's victory is confirmed, he will inherit the unenviable task of cutting the world's third-largest national debt while trying to breathe life into an economy that grew an average of just 0.6 percent a year under Berlusconi.
The next government is not expected to take office for at least a month, with Berlusconi set to stay on in a caretaker capacity until parliament nominates a successor to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, whose mandate expires in May.
The president must name the new prime minister and Ciampi says he wants to leave the task to his successor.
Link (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-04-10T164230Z_01_L07481135_RTRUKOC_0_US-ITALY.xml)
Mon Apr 10, 2006 12:42 PM ET
By Crispian Balmer
ROME (Reuters) - Center-left leader Romano Prodi looked on course to beat Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Italy's general election, exit polls said on Monday, but initial counting indicated that he had only a narrow lead.
Pollsters said the result could be especially close in the upper house of parliament (Senate), and leaders of the centre-right alliance refused to concede defeat.
Center-left leaders said they saw clear signs that the nation had nonetheless turned against Berlusconi, punishing him for failing to deliver on promises to revive the lagging economy and slash taxes.
According to an exit poll by the Nexus research institute, Prodi's Union coalition was set to win between 50 and 54 percent of the vote in both the lower and upper houses of parliament, giving it a working majority in the two chambers.
Berlusconi's center-right bloc was shown winning 45 to 49 percent of the vote according to the poll, broadcast by state television RAI after voting ended in the two-day election.
Three hours after polls closed, counting was going slower than expected.
Nexus said that based on a sample of 15 percent of the vote in the Senate, the center-left had won 50.4 percent of ballots cast against 48.6 percent for the center-right.
This would give Prodi some 158 of the Senate's 315 seats with 151 seats going to Berlusconi and his allies.
Pollsters said they noted stronger than expected support for center-right parties in key regions, including Piedmont and Puglia, which could yet swing the Senate Berlusconi's way.
Different voting ages and different counting methods apply for the two houses, but a government needs the support of both to take power and pass laws.
The interior ministry indicated that turnout was set to be more than 83 percent against 81.4 percent in 2001. Berlusconi always maintained that a high turnout would benefit him.
Official results are due by the end of Monday.
HISTORIC?
Prodi's center-left alliance, which stretches from Roman Catholic centrists to communists, had led in opinion polls for the past two years, benefiting from widespread voter discontent over the stagnant economy and rising cost of living.
"This is a result of historic proportions," said Massimo D'Alema, a former leftist prime minister commenting on the exit polls.
Berlusconi, Italy's richest man who created the country's biggest media empire, dominated the often ill-tempered election campaign with a string of outbursts, gaffes and last-minute promises to cut taxes.
Center-right leaders reacted cautiously to the exit polls.
"It's not entirely clear that we've been beaten," said Denis Verdini, a lawmaker in Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.
Early returns said Forza Italia had polled between 20-23 percent of the vote -- down from 29.4 percent in 2001.
Although this is a sharp decline, it would still make the group the largest single force in Italian politics, enabling Berlusconi to keep control of the center-right bloc.
Prodi, 66, beat Berlusconi in a 1996 general election, but his government lasted only two years before it was brought down by disgruntled communist allies.
Critics say any new government headed by the occasionally prickly Prodi will suffer a similar fate because of the gaping ideological divide within his multi-party alliance.
Prodi insisted throughout the campaign that his coalition could survive a full five-year term, noting that unlike in 1996 his allies had signed up to a 289-page manifesto that will serve as a road map for any centre-left government.
The manifesto pledges to cut labor taxes, provide bigger handouts for families with children, reintroduce an inheritance tax, scrap plans to raise the age of retirement to 60 and launch a crackdown on tax evasion.
On foreign policy, Prodi has vowed a swift withdrawal of Italian troops sent to Iraq by Berlusconi, who is one of U.S. President George W. Bush's closest allies in Europe.
If Prodi's victory is confirmed, he will inherit the unenviable task of cutting the world's third-largest national debt while trying to breathe life into an economy that grew an average of just 0.6 percent a year under Berlusconi.
The next government is not expected to take office for at least a month, with Berlusconi set to stay on in a caretaker capacity until parliament nominates a successor to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, whose mandate expires in May.
The president must name the new prime minister and Ciampi says he wants to leave the task to his successor.
Link (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-04-10T164230Z_01_L07481135_RTRUKOC_0_US-ITALY.xml)