Berlusconi Loses Big In Regional Elections

by Robin Pomeroy and Gavin Jones - (Reuters) Mon Apr 04, 2005 20:31

Berlusconi Scorched by Regional Election Defeat

- Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi suffered a stinging defeat at Italian regional elections, early votecounts indicated on Monday, a huge boost for center-left leaderRomano Prodi who aims to unseat him next year.

Berlusconi's center-right coalition appeared to have lostat least nine of the 13 regions at stake, only sure ofmaintaining Lombardy and Veneto -- both in its stronghold innorthern Italy.

Prodi, who had said he would be satisfied by winning justone new seat, was delighted by what appeared to be a landslide.

"Today we have easily won in terms of the number of votesand the number of regions," he told a news conference. "Withthis vote Italians are asking us to prepare to govern to takethe country forward."

The center-left won up to six of the contested regionspreviously held by government parties, giving it control of13-15 of Italy's 20 regions.

Berlusconi had prepared his supporters for a poor result,saying he expected a mid-term backlash due to Italy's economicwoes. But the outcome looks far worse than expected.

The tycoon-turned-politician has said he is more interestedin the total number of votes cast rather than seats won orlost, a figure that will not be available until the count isfinished.

"At a regional level the center-left has prevailed, but thenational battle is still to be played out," said FabrizioCicchitto, a spokesman for Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.

The death of Pope John Paul on Saturday overshadowed theelection but did not keep voters away. Turnout reached 71.4percent, down just 1.7 percentage points from the last one.

"RESIGN!"

"Berlusconi should draw the right conclusions and notprolong the agony for another year," said opposition member ofparliament Antonio di Pietro in a call for the prime ministerto resign.

A defeat in regional elections in 2000 prompted the thenprime minister, the center-left's Massimo D'Alema, to resign --ultimately making way for Berlusconi's rise.

Berlusconi rejected that idea even before the polls opened,saying he was determined to see out his five-year mandate asthe longest-serving premier in post-war Italian history.

The center-right appeared to have lost three regions seenas crucial by parties and pundits: Piedmont in the north, Lazioin the center and Puglia in the south, exit polls said. Butearly official figures showed the results in Lazio and Pugliawere on a knife edge.

The center-right president of the Rome region Lazio,Francesco Storace said if he lost, Berlusconi was doomed.

"If we lose in Lazio the successor to Berlusconi can onlybe Prodi," he said ahead of the vote.

If Storace loses, he may contest the legality of the Lazioelection as he believes Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughterof wartime dictator Benito Mussolini, forged the signaturesneeded to allow her to stand.

Mussolini, head of her own extreme-right party, may havehanded victory to the center-left in Lazio by drawing votesaway from Storace, a member of the National Alliance which overthe last decade has broken its historic links with fascism

A fourteenth region, Basilicata, which is held by thecenter-left, will vote on April 17-18.