Berlusconi may be stripped of his chance to govern Italy
ITALY’S upstart Five Star Movement emerged the comfortable winner in the country’s general election last night, with preliminary exit polls suggesting the populist party winning by 10 points over their nearest rivals.
Exit polls indicated that Five Star had won between 29-32 per cent of the vote – falling well short of the 40 per cent it would need for an outright majority.
Silvio Berlusconi, the 81-year-old former prime minister, looked to have had a disappointing night after his Forza Italia party was predicted to have come up equal with the anti-immigration League party, with both on 13-16 per cent of the vote.
If confirmed, the numbers would also mean that the Right-wing coalition headed by Mr Berlusconi falls short of a governing majority.
The governing Democratic Party, headed by Matteo Renzi, the former prime minister, performed poorly, with exit polls suggesting it won as little as 20.5 per cent of the vote – a potentially disastrous result for Italy’s mainstream centre-left party.
As the largest party, Five Star is likely to demand the chance to try to form a government. However, the party, founded by Beppe Grillo, a standup comedian, has repeatedly ruled out forming a coalition with other parties.
The exit poll suggested Italy is in for a protracted period of uncertainty and days or even weeks of tortuous horsetrading between the parties. The poll had a margin of error of three per cent.
The numbers were provided by RAI, Italy’s state television network, with experts cautioning that exit polls in Italian elections can be unreliable.
Earlier yesterday, a bitter and divisive campaign ended on a comical note when a topless woman from Femen, a campaign group, jumped on to a table as Mr Berlusconi was casting his vote in a polling booth in Milan.
The young woman had the words “Berlusconi, you’re past your sell-by date” written across her chest.
As she was carried away by police, she may have reminded him of his alleged dalliances with barely-clothed young women at so-called “bunga bunga” parties.