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Voter dilemma pronounced in Italy

Rome: Italians went to the polls on Sunday to elect a Parliament almost certain that they were headed for further political instability.

“I have never felt so cheated in my life. I know this election is going to lead to more instability and coalitions and yet I must accomplish my civic duty,” said postal worker Cesare Politi as he went in to cast his vote.

This vote could see the return to power for the third time by media magnate and Italy’s richest man Silvio Berlusconi. But he could also suffer a reversal of fortune if Italians decide they do not want to bring back the person whose self-serving policies drove the economy into the ground. Though polls cannot now be published, senior journalists and bureaucrats say the tide could be turning against Mr. Berlusconi who has been tipped to win these past weeks.

Mr. Berlusconi’s main rival centre-left leader of the newly formed Democratic Party Walter Veltroni is said to be narrowing the gap.

Mr. Veltroni’s last electoral meeting held on Mr. Berlusconi’s home turf of Milan attracted an estimated 1,00,000 persons. Mr. Berlusconi, delivering his final campaign speech in Rome, could only muster a crowd of about 5,000.

Mr. Berlusconi could be ill-served by an electoral law he himself passed in 2005 to hobble the government of Romano Prodi. Even if he manages to get a majority in the Lower House, the Senate, elected by a complicated system of regional voting is likely to throw up the slimmest of majorities if at all. Mr. Berlusconi stubbornly refused to allow a referendum to change the electoral law before this vote. Now, in a case of the bitter bit he could end up being the victim; of his own political machinations.

Italy is witnessing a phenomenal economic downturn and a third of voters were undecided about who they would put into office according polls published two weeks ago. One of the major problems is social and economic gap separating Italy’s rich north and its poor mafia-dominated south.

More than half of Italians surveyed at the end of March — 51.4 per cent, way up from 36 per cent a year ago — felt that their personal economic situation had worsened.

The economy grew just 1.5 per cent last year, and the outlook for 2008 is bleaker still at 0.6 per centMr. Berlusconi heads the PDL — People for Freedom Party formed after a merger between his old Forza Italia party and the neo-fascist National Alliance. He is also allied with the populist, anti-immigration Northern League and has the support of extreme right formations like the AS led by the dictator Mussolini’s grand-daughter Alessandra.

Mr. Veltroni’s party is a merger of the former Communist Democrats of the Left and the centrist Catholic Daisy party. Further to the left is the Rainbow Left, a coalition of the Greens and two Communist parties.

A large chunk remains in the centre, mainly the centrist Union of Christian Democrats (UDC) led by Pier Ferdinando Casini, who split from Mr. Berlusconi.

The possibility of a hung Parliament led Mr. Casini to say on Friday he could take up the premiership to become a referee between the two large blocs.

The next government will have to act quickly to resolve a waste disposal crisis in the southern Naples region and clinch an elusive deal with Air France-KLM to take over the failing Alitalia airline or, likely, oversee its liquidation.

Polling stations opened on Sunday. They reopen on Monday for a final eight hours of voting. Exit polls and preliminary results are expected soon after polls close at 3:00 p.m., though the Interior Ministry said last week that vote-counting would be slower than usual because of stepped-up scrutiny.

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