Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: Berlusconi loses power

Berlusconi loses power
By Natasha Bita in Florence
15apr06
ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's last-ditch attempt to cling to  
office by trying to change the law to force a recount of more votes from  
the national election has been rejected by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
Mr Ciampi reportedly warned the media mogul he would block such a  
provocative move.
Claiming electoral fraud, Mr Berlusconi has demanded a recount of 43,000  
disputed ballot papers, insisting: "The election result has to change."
But his grip on power slipped last night when a review by the Court of  
Appeal awarded roughly the same number of votes to each side, confirming  
Romano Prodi's narrow win.
Mr Prodi's centre-left Union coalition pipped Mr Berlusconi's conservative  
House of Freedoms group at the polls by fewer than 25,000 votes - a margin  
of less than 0.1 per cent.
 
After jogging through the streets of his home town of Bologna in a snazzy  
blue tracksuit - Italy's official soccer colour - Mr Prodi yesterday  
repeated his proclamation of victory. "We had to wait a bit," he said.  
"One needs patience. But at the end of the day, this is democracy."
Apart from votes contested in polling stations, Italian law does not  
permit a recount of other ballots, including more than two million spoiled  
or blank votes.
But Mr Berlusconi wanted to use his last weeks in caretaker mode to bring  
in a ministerial decree that would permit a broader recount - a plan  
quickly shot down by the President, it was reported here yesterday.
And even Mr Berlusconi's allies are backing away from his claims the  
election was rigged.
"The Left has won, so it not only has the right but the duty to govern,"  
Welfare Minister Roberto Maroni said yesterday. "It's enough to look at  
the election results to see the majority voted against the Government."
Pouring scorn on talk of a decree to force a wide recount, Mr Maroni said  
safeguards were already in place. "I don't think it's useful to think of  
new laws because the instruments are already there," he said.
And Mr Berlusconi's Minister for Parliamentary Relations, Carlo  
Giovanardi, tried to hose down his boss's claims of fraud.
"No one has ever spoken of fraud," he told Italian radio. "The talk is of  
irregularities in the voting."
But the co-ordinator of Mr Berlusconi's election campaign for the votes of  
Italians living abroad, Forza Italia MP Dario Rivolta, alleged yesterday  
that postmen had been bribed to redirect thousands of postal votes that  
had gone missing.
"In some parts of the world - I don't know about Australia - some  
candidates were fraudulently able to get their hands on ballot papers that  
were destined for the voters," Mr Rivolta told The Weekend Australian.
"They stole them. We know there were attempts at corrupting postmen in  
various parts of the world, in South America. I don't know about  
Australia."
Mr Rivolta said it was "inexplicable" that more than 10,000 ballot papers  
cast from Australia - one in four - had been declared invalid.
But the vice-consul of the Italian embassy in Canberra, Roberto Mengoni,  
yesterday said it was "unbelievable" to think Australian postal officers  
had been bribed to redirect votes.
"To think you can corrupt hundreds or thousands of postmen in countries  
like Australia is, frankly, unbelievable," he said from Italy, where he is  
on holiday.
"We did not receive any complaints from people or political parties of  
fraud or of people going out buying votes. In Australia corruption is  
very, very low."
Dr Mengoni said it was "odd" so many Australian ballot papers had been  
declared invalid.
"It's easy to make mistakes when you are abroad and maybe your Italian is  
not so good," the vice-consul said. "Some of us at the embassy would be  
confused by the instructions."
Expatriate Italian voters have handed Mr Prodi a precarious two-seat lead  
over the House of Freedoms in the Senate.
Despite the knife-edge victory, a new electoral law gives Mr Prodi enough  
bonus seats to hold a comfortable majority in the lower house.
However, Italy will be in political limbo for another month.
Mr Ciampi retires in mid-May and wants his successor to appoint the new  
prime minister, so the new parliament must first appoint the president  
before Mr Prodi can be sworn into office.
-- 
Ralph Barker
Il nano fu. Siccome immobile,	
dato il mortal tacco,	
stette il pelo immemore	
calvo di tanto spiro.............11 Aprile 2006
Accendi il cervello spegni mediaset

 disputed ballot papers, insisting: "The election result has to change."
un paio di balle!
basta che un componente del seggio esprima un dubbio 
Le schede dubbie vengono SEMPRE ricontrollate, dopo le elezioni
Le schede dubbie erano poco più di 5.000
Berlusconi ha scagazzato in giro talmente forte che i giornalisti se ne
sono dimenticati ed attribuiscono a LUI la richiesta del riconteggio
Se la situazione dell'informazione è quella che è un po' di responsabilità
ce l'hanno pure loro, i giornalisti!
Eccheccacchio, scusate!
-- 
ciao
El Bandolero
Hasta La Victoria (quasi) Siempre