ROME: Centre-left leader Romano Prodi looked on course to beat Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi in Italy's general election, exit polls showed last night.
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| Supporters of
Italy's opposition leader Romano Prodi's centre-left coalition view
election results on a giant screen at a rally in central Rome April 10,
2006. [Reuters] |
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Prodi's
alliance was set to win between 50 and 54 per cent of the vote in both the lower
and upper houses of parliament, giving it a working majority in the two
chambers, a poll by the Nexus research institute said.
Berlusconi's centre-right bloc was shown winning 45 to 49 per cent of the
vote according to the poll, broadcast by state television RAI after voting ended
in the two-day election.
"This is a result of historic proportions," said Massimo D'Alema, a former
prime minister who is president of the largest centre-left party, the Democrats
of the Left.
Under the terms of Italy's electoral system, the coalition which emerges
ahead in the 630-seat lower chamber is automatically assigned a winner's
majority of 340 seats.
In the 315-seat Senate, the winner's majority is assigned on a
region-by-region basis. Official results were due by late last night.
Prodi's centre-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.
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.
Centre-right leaders reacted cautiously to the exit polls, but one veteran
politician from Berlusconi's bloc said they had no chance of regaining power.