Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: Contested ballots deal new blow to Berlusconi

Contested ballots deal new blow to Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi's hopes of overturning the Italian election result were  
dealt a blow today as it emerged the number of contested ballot papers was  
far lower than originally thought.
The interior ministry said the votes being recounted were 2,131 for the  
lower chamber and 3,135 for the senate - dramatically below the previous  
announcement of 43,028 and 39,822 contested votes, and not enough to  
reverse Romano Prodi's win.
Mr Prodi's centre-left coalition won a majority in both houses but Mr  
Berlusconi, the incumbent centre-right prime minister, refused to accept  
its 25,000 margin in the lower chamber.
"It seems that we have won the election," said a spokesman for Mr Prodi,  
who first declared his victory to a crowd of cheering supporters in the  
early hours of Tuesday. "Two thousand [ballots] can't change the result."
Mr Berlusconi's press office did not comment on the interior ministry  
statement, noting merely that all election data were "preliminary" until  
official confirmation by the court of cassation, which is not expected  
until next week at the earliest.
The interior ministry said its error in counting up the contested ballots  
was due to a "material error" that had led officials in some provinces to  
put the contested ballots in with ballots that had been annulled.
As is routine after an election, judges examined ballots for the lower  
chamber and the senate that were not immediately included in the overall  
official count because there were problems with them, but none so severe  
that they would be automatically discounted.
"Obviously this remains temporary data, as we await definite and formal  
decisions of ... regional electoral offices," the ministry said in a  
statement.
Before the revised figures were announced, Mr Prodi told Italian news  
agencies that the checks on the contested ballots were not "leading to any  
change".
His office yesterday revealed that foreign leaders, including EU partners  
Tony Blair and Angela Merkel of Germany had telephoned with their  
congratulations. Mr Blair and Mr Prodi were said to have held "a long,  
friendly and cordial conversation".
Jacques Chirac of France was the first EU leader to congratulate Mr Prodi  
on the election win.
Mr Berlusconi is still refusing to concede. Members of Mr Prodi's  
coalition today asked him to stop challenging the election results.
"I want to invite the premier to lower his tone and stop what appears to  
be a real strategy of tension, an undermining of the electoral victory  
that increases the bitterness," Massimo D'Alema, leader of the Democrats  
of the Left, said in a interview published the Corriere della Sera.
A new government is unlikely to be formed until mid-May regardless of  
whether Mr Berlusconi concedes. Once the results have been approved by the  
court of cassation, Italy's highest court, it will then be up to the  
Italian president to invite a prime minister to take office.
Italy's current president, the 85-year-old Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, stands  
down next month and said he would leave it up to his successor to make the  
decision. The Italian parliament has until May 13 to elect a new president.
-- 
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

	zac
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