Italy votes in election stalked by populism, stalemate expected

ROME: Italians went to the polls on Sunday in a vote that could bring political gridlock after an election campaign marked by anger over the listless economy, high unemployment and immigration.

Pollsters have predicted that former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right party and his far-right allies will emerge as the largest bloc in parliament but fall short of a majority.

The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement looks set to be the biggest single party, feeding off discontent over entrenched corruption and growing poverty, while the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) is seen limping home in third place.

Heavily indebted Italy is the third-largest economy in the 19-member euro zone and, though investors have been sanguine ahead of the ballot, prolonged political stalemate could reawaken the threat of market instability.

In a sign of the divisive climate ahead of the vote, some homes in Pavia, near Milan, were marked overnight with stickers that said “Here lives an anti-fascist”.

Neo-fascist movements have been gaining ground in Italy, where a Nazi sympathiser last month injured six Africans in a shooting incident.

The vote is being held under a complex new electoral law that could mean the final result will not be clear until late on Monday.