Rome – Center-left economist Romano Prodi emerged the winner of Italy’s election by a razor-thin margin Tuesday, promising to form a strong government able to run a deeply divided country mired in economic stagnation. But Premier Silvio Berlusconi claimed voting irregularities and demanded a recount.
The dispute could usher in a period of uncertainty over the results, a process that could take weeks. The outcome of the election must be approved by Italy’s highest court, and it is up to the president to give the head of the winning coalition a mandate to form a government.
Even if the result is confirmed, prospects of a stable government under Prodi look cloudy at best. Many fear a return to the political chaos that has characterized Italian history since the end of World War II. There have been 60 governments in about as many years.
In addition to a weak popular mandate, Prodi would preside over a potentially unwieldy coalition. The center-left, while built on two mainstream parties, includes a mixed group of smaller formations ranging from Catholics to communists.
Prodi, a former Italian premier and European Union chief, played down the divisions within his coalition. He said previous governments have been weaker and called his alliance “politically and technically strong.”
“We have won after an intense battle, but we have a majority both in the Senate and in the lower house that allows us to govern,” Prodi said.
Berlusconi, a billionaire media mogul who has served as premier for the past five years, refused to concede defeat for his center-right coalition.
“Nobody now can say they have won,” he said.
Prodi said he was not worried by a recount and described Berlusconi’s complaints as “out of line.”
The public statements by the two candidates capped a day of confusion after millions of Italians voted Sunday and Monday at the end of a bitter campaign.
Official results by the Interior Ministry showed Prodi’s coalition winning four of the six seats in the Senate elected by Italians living abroad, giving him the margin he needs to control both houses of Parliament.
In the 315-member Senate, official returns showed Prodi with 158 seats to 156 for the center-right, and one independent.
But Berlusconi, speaking of the vote abroad, said “there are many irregularities and, therefore, it’s possible that this is not a vote we can say is valid.”
Oddly enough, Berlusconi’s conservative forces had pushed through the law giving the overseas Italians the right to vote in 2001 in one of its first pieces of legislation.
