New elections are to be held on May 13. On the same day, local authorities will be voted into office in 1,300 municipalities, including the major cities of Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin. The election is already promising to be a turning point in Italian politics. The right-wing alliance headed by media czar Silvio Berlusconi is currently far ahead in the opinion polls. But the outcome has yet to be decided.
Many voters are either still undecided or reluctant to cast their votes at all.
The left of centre alliance consists of nine new parties in all. In 1994 Berlusconi formed a government in coalition with neo-fascists and separatists. At the time, the floundering of the old party system in a morass of corruption scandals opened the way to power for his newly established movement. But his government held together for only a few months. The immediate cause of its collapse was the withdrawal of the Northern League.