Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Berlusconi risks defeat in local election run-offs
|
Edition:
U.S.
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Photos of the week
Our top photos from the past week. Full Article
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Casey Anthony texts: "guess who spends eternity in jail"
28 May 2011
Roadside bomb kills seven NATO troops in Afghanistan
26 May 2011
Air France crash sparks pilot mystery
27 May 2011
Lockheed says thwarted "tenacious" cyber attack
1:49am EDT
Breakaway Yemen army units add to pressure on Saleh
|
11:36am EDT
Discussed
94
Obama departs for Europe trip, explores Irish roots
81
Netanyahu speech eyed for sign of U.S.-Israel rift
74
$1 trillion on the table in U.S. debt talks
Watched
GM pulls the plug
Fri, May 27 2011
Scientists revive ancient spider in stunning 3D detail
Tue, May 24 2011
Death toll rises in Joplin, Missouri
12:30am EDT
Berlusconi risks defeat in local election run-offs
Tweet
Share this
By Deepa Babington
ROME (Reuters) - Italians voted on Sunday in local election run-offs where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right coalition risks humiliating defeat in his home town of Milan for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Nearly...
Email
Print
Related News
Embarrassment, mockery over Berlusconi's latest gaffe
Fri, May 27 2011
Berlusconi risks defeat in key local elections
Thu, May 26 2011
Obama warns Gaddafi of "no let up"
Wed, May 25 2011
Euro zone debtors under pressure over new risks
Mon, May 23 2011
Spanish Socialists hammered in local elections
Mon, May 23 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Living off the fat of the land?
WITNESS: An evening with Ratko Mladic
Related Topics
World »
Italy »
An elderly man prepares to cast his vote at a polling station in downtown Milan May 29, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Paolo Bona
By Deepa Babington
ROME |
Sun May 29, 2011 7:43am EDT
ROME (Reuters) - Italians voted on Sunday in local election run-offs where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right coalition risks humiliating defeat in his home town of Milan for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Nearly 6 million voters are eligible to cast ballots in contests in 90 towns and six provinces, but the focus is squarely on the key battlegrounds of the financial capital Milan and the southern port of Naples.
Results are expected after voting ends on Monday.
Berlusconi took a drubbing in the first round of voting on May 15 and 16, when an uninspired center left managed to hold on to power easily in Turin and Bologna and forced the center right into run-offs in Naples and Milan, its northern power base.
Defeat in the run-offs, especially in Milan, would be a serious blow for Berlusconi, deepening divisions in the center right and potentially provoking challenges to his leadership.
"I'm hoping this vote will bring a change for Milan, an improvement," said salesman Bruno Pedrazzoli, 53, after casting his vote in Milan.
He complained of high pollution levels and insufficient public transportation in the city, where center-right mayor Letizia Moratti trailed with 41.6 percent of the first-round vote against leftist Giuliano Pisapia's 48 percent.
The media magnate characterized the vote as a referendum on his popularity, and was punished by voters in the first round for a series of sex scandals, corruption cases and a stagnant economy.
Days later, ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook on Italy for failing to cut its debt mountain and boost growth.
"The Berlusconi era is ending," Walter Veltroni, a former center-left leader whom Berlusconi defeated in national elections in 2008, told the left-wing newspaper L'Unita.
Italy has weathered the financial crisis better than its southern European peers, but has been one of the euro zone's most sluggish economies for more than a decade.
Berlusconi's government last month was forced to cut its growth forecast for the year to 1.1 percent from 1.3 percent and cut next year's outlook to 1.3 percent from 2.0 percent.
"ISLAMIC GYPSYLAND"
Initially stunned into silence by the first-round results, Berlusconi has since taken to the campaign trail with a vengeance.
Blanketing the airwaves with tirades against his long-time enemies, the left and magistrates, he has predicted Milan will become an "Islamic gypsyland" if the left wins and accused leftist voters of lacking a brain.
A rant against Italian magistrates to a surprised U.S. President Barack Obama at the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France prompted Economy Undersecretary Daniela Melchiorre, a former magistrate, to resign in protest.
Hours after the summit on Friday, Berlusconi flew to Naples for a flurry of television interviews and a duet with a Neapolitan singer to wrap up campaigning in trademark defiance.
Asked if the center right would face a crisis in the event of defeat, Berlusconi said: "I categorically exclude that."
A general atmosphere of acrimony marked the end of campaigning on Friday, with a fire sweeping through an election office for the center-right candidate in Naples and two people hurt in a brawl between supporters of rival candidates in Milan.
In Naples, a divided center left which fielded two candidates in the first round could fare better with a unified front in the run-offs, although both sides have taken flak for failing to resolve a chronic garbage crisis plaguing the city.
(Additional reporting by Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by David Cowell)
World
Italy
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters.
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
© Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
Editorial Editions:
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Reuters
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Help
Journalism Handbook
Archive
Site Index
Video Index
Reader Feedback
Mobile
Newsletters
RSS
Podcasts
Widgets
Your View
Analyst Research
Thomson Reuters
Copyright
Disclaimer
Privacy
Professional Products
Professional Products Support
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Careers
Online Products
Acquisitions Monthly
Buyouts
Venture Capital Journal
International Financing Review
Project Finance International
PEhub.com
PE Week
FindLaw
Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service
Reuters on Facebook
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Other News on Sunday, 29 May 2011 Arab League to seek U.N. seat for Palestinian state
|
Ex-Bank of Italy chief sentenced to 4 years in jail
|
Iran's Khamenei aide calls Ahmadinejad to order
|
China reprimands Vietnam over offshore oil exploration
|
Truce in Yemen halts week of deadly clashes
|
Afghans say NATO air strike kills 12 children, two women
|
Cooling system restored at Tepco's No.5 plant
|
Ex-Honduran president Zelaya returns from exile
|
Peru's presidential race nearly tied: Ipsos poll
|
NATO says destroyed Gaddafi compound guard towers
|
Egypt detains Iranian from mission in Cairo
|
High hopes as Nigeria's Jonathan sworn in
|
Lockheed says thwarted tenacious cyber attack
|
Lockheed says thwarted tenacious cyber attack
|
No let-up for perpetual music maker Quincy Jones
|
French minister quits over sex harassment case
|
Three killed in wider Syria military push: witnesses
|
Afghan police chief attack planned abroad: government
|
Belgrade and Bosnian Serbs protest against Mladic arrest
|
Berlusconi risks defeat in local election run-offs
|
Power cuts increase hardship in Libyan rebel mountains
|
Peru's presidential race very tight: polls
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights