Prodi claims victory in Italian election

ROME – Centre-left leader Romano Prodi claimed victory in Italy’s election yesterday but his tiny margin raised fears of political paralysis and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s allies demanded a review of the count.

Prodi’s alliance won in the lower house and Sky Italia TV projected that it would have a majority of one or two seats in the upper house Senate thanks to votes of Italians abroad that were still being collated. “We can govern for five years,” Prodi told reporters.”Of course we’ll need cooperation, but last night I said we would work for all Italians, not just some of them.”However, the victory margin was so slim that the centre-right contested it and markets worried that Prodi would have a hard time enacting badly needed reforms, cutting Italy’s debt mountain or tackling its budget deficit.Milan’s stock market fell more than 1 percent over concern about the political uncertainty.”The threat of a stalemate, the worst possible scenario, has emerged and clouds the future with uncertainty,” bank UBM said in a note to clients.In the lower house Chamber of Deputies Prodi’s bloc had taken about 49,80 per cent of the vote compared with 49,73 per cent for Berlusconi.The winning margin was around 25 000 votes, a tiny fraction of the 47 million eligible electors.In the Senate, the centre-left was set to have a one or two seat majority, but definitive results were only expected later on yesterday as the count of the overseas vote was completed.’Divided country’, ‘Neck-and-Neck’ and ‘Split down the Middle’ were the headlines used in most mainstream newspapers to describe the vote, the closest election in modern history.In an apparent bid to head off any battle over the result, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the supreme arbiter of Italian politics, issued a statement praising the “orderly and correct” voting process.However, commentators and frustrated ordinary Italians feared the election could hobble the country.”I think we’ll have a government that lasts six months and then parliament will fall apart and we will have to vote again,” said Pietro Bianchi, a Milan banker in his 30s.Under Italy’s new electoral system, the ballot winners are automatically granted 340 of the lower house’s 630 seats no matter how small their margin of victory in the popular vote, with the runners-up getting some 277 seats.Centre-right politicians asked for checks on up to half a million spoilt ballots that had been declared null and void.”Neither side reached 50 per cent (in the lower house) and the margin is under 25 000 votes.Such a tiny difference necessitates a scrupulous checking of the counting and tally sheets,” Paolo Bonaiuti, Berlusconi’s right-hand man, told reporters in the pre-dawn hours.The prospect of a partial recount could delay a definitive verdict.Some commentators evoked the 2000 US presidential election, which ended in a bitter recount battle in Florida.Berlusconi, who dominated the election campaign and wrong-footed his opponents with a last minute pledge to abolish a property tax, has not yet commented on the results.Prodi’s centre-left bloc, which stretches from Roman Catholic centrists to committed communists, had expected a comfortable victory in the election, tapping into voter unhappiness over the stagnant economy and rising cost of living.Exit polls on Monday suggested Prodi had secured a clear win, but as the count progressed, Berlusconi closed the gap.Prodi, a former European Commission president, told reporters he would put Europe at the centre of his new administration and promised a “constructive relationship” with the United States.Berlusconi is US President George W.Bush’s closest ally in continental Europe, deploying troops to Iraq in the face of widespread protests at home.Prodi has vowed to withdraw the troops following consultations with allies.The next government is not expected to take office for at least a month and Ciampi will almost certainly be called on to play a decisive role in ensuring an orderly transition.- Nampa-Reuters”We can govern for five years,” Prodi told reporters.”Of course we’ll need cooperation, but last night I said we would work for all Italians, not just some of them.”However, the victory margin was so slim that the centre-right contested it and markets worried that Prodi would have a hard time enacting badly needed reforms, cutting Italy’s debt mountain or tackling its budget deficit.Milan’s stock market fell more than 1 percent over concern about the political uncertainty.”The threat of a stalemate, the worst possible scenario, has emerged and clouds the future with uncertainty,” bank UBM said in a note to clients.In the lower house Chamber of Deputies Prodi’s bloc had taken about 49,80 per cent of the vote compared with 49,73 per cent for Berlusconi.The winning margin was around 25 000 votes, a tiny fraction of the 47 million eligible electors.In the Senate, the centre-left was set to have a one or two seat majority, but definitive results were only expected later on yesterday as the count of the overseas vote was completed.’Divided country’, ‘Neck-and-Neck’ and ‘Split down the Middle’ were the headlines used in most mainstream newspapers to describe the vote, the closest election in modern history.In an apparent bid to head off any battle over the result, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the supreme arbiter of Italian politics, issued a statement praising the “orderly and correct” voting process.However, commentators and frustrated ordinary Italians feared the election could hobble the country.”I think we’ll have a government that lasts six months and then parliament will fall apart and we will have to vote again,” said Pietro Bianchi, a Milan banker in his 30s.Under Italy’s new electoral system, the ballot winners are automatically granted 340 of the lower house’s 630 seats no matter how small their margin of victory in the popular vote, with the runners-up getting some 277 seats.Centre-right politicians asked for checks on up to half a million spoilt ballots that had been declared null and void.”Neither side reached 50 per cent (in the lower house) and the margin is under 25 000 votes.Such a tiny difference necessitates a scrupulous checking of the counting and tally sheets,” Paolo Bonaiuti, Berlusconi’s right-hand man, told reporters in the pre-dawn hours.The prospect of a partial recount could delay a definitive verdict.Some commentators evoked the 2000 US presidential election, which ended in a bitter recount battle in Florida.Berlusconi, who dominated the election campaign and wrong-footed his opponents with a last minute pledge to abolish a property tax, has not yet commented on the results.Prodi’s centre-left bloc, which stretches from Roman Catholic centrists to committed communists, had expected a comfortable victory in the election, tapping into voter unhappiness over the stagnant economy and rising cost of living.Exit polls on Monday suggested Prodi had secured a clear win, but as the count progressed, Berlusconi closed the gap.Prodi, a former European Commission president, told reporters he would put Europe at the centre of his new administration and promised a “constructive relationship” with the United States.Berlusconi is US President George W.Bush’s closest ally in continental Europe, deploying troops to Iraq in the face of widespread protests at home.Prodi has vowed to withdraw the troops following consultations with allies.The next government is not expected to take office for at least a month and Ciampi will almost certainly be called on to play a decisive role in ensuring an orderly transition.- Nampa-Reuters