Italians Begin to Vote in Two-Day General Election
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Version 0 of 1. ROME — Italians began voting on Sunday in a two-day general election that is being closely watched by Italy’s European partners as well as investors, who share the concern that unless a clear winner emerges from the voting, a new period of political and market instability lies ahead. The parties that have dominated Italian politics for the past two decades are facing a significant challenge from the anti-establishment Five Star Movement led by the comedian turned rabble-rouser Beppe Grillo, which stands to become the third party in Italy, drawing on voters’ widespread anger and skepticism toward the country’s entrenched political parties. And even if the center-left alliance led by Pier Luigi Bersani of the Democratic Party should emerge as the winner, as the last opinion polls published on Feb. 8 suggested, it is likely that he will have to forge an alliance with the centrist parties that support the departing prime minister, Mario Monti. Those parties include a strong Catholic contingent that shares little common ground with the left-wing party allied with Mr. Bersani. But Italy needs a strong government to enact the measures needed to guide it out of its recession, spur economic growth and create jobs to lower the unemployment rate, which as of late last year was about 11 percent generally and much higher for young people. Voter turnout on Sunday, the first of the two-day elections, was slightly lower than the previous general elections five years ago. As of 7 p.m. about 47 percent of the nearly 47 million eligible voters had cast a ballot. After “an awful electoral campaign,” Italians were looking for a “change of the political class,” said Giulia di Cagno, a Rome teacher who voted on Sunday morning. “There’s a lot of unhappiness around.” Silvio Berlusconi, who resigned as prime minister 15 months ago but returned to campaign again, could also unsettle Italy’s politics after the elections. Campaigning on promises to refund an unpopular property tax and to relax austerity measures, Mr. Berlusconi has capitalized on the growing frustrations of struggling Italians. When Mr. Berlusconi went to vote in Milan on Sunday, three women pulled off their tops and tried to pass through a police cordon to reach the former prime minister. Italian news media said the three women, who had scrawled “Basta Silvio,” or Enough of Silvio, on their bare bodies, were members of the Femen protest group. After two decades on the political scene, Mr. Berlusconi remains a highly divisive figure in Italy, and while he is not expected to get enough votes to return to power, he is likely to exercise his strong voice as an opposition leader. “I came to vote only to ensure that Berlusconi would not be back,” said Stefano Biagiotti, an artist who cast his ballot in a middle-class Rome suburb. “I’m not voting because I hope for something, only because I hope someone loses. It’s sad, but that is the only solution I see today.” |