Photo: Having her say: a woman casts her vote in the Italian election (Reuters: Yara Nardi)
Result Unclear After Italian Election
Stephen: You can see evidence that the world has shifted by the frequency with which no clear party seems dominate so many of the world’s elections these days. Not all, but many.
Mostly it’s because people are showing how much they have lost faith in and distrust the vast majority of those standing for government. Protest votes abound. Quite possibly, too, the results are being ‘assisted’ by the probability that less vote rigging is taking place.
Whatever the cause, the effect is that many countries are now being governed by coalitions or minority governments pieced together following cliffhanger elections. Think the UK, Australia, Greece and elsewhere.
Sure, it causes confusion on world markets and for election analysts and politicians alike. But for the people, it may well be a better opportunity to see governments who wish to remain in power respond to their constituents wishes, needs and desires.
The Italians are the latest to make it clear they will not suffer harsh austerity policies and have voted accordingly over the past two days – following the trend of the cliffhanger election. And the snowball effect is likely to be felt across Europe – and the world.
Result Unclear After Italian Election
Mary Gearin, Europe Correspondent, ABC – February 25 2013
Italy’s election result hangs in the balance, raising the spectre of a new vote within weeks.
With the counting almost complete, poll projections suggest Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre left coalition will get the biggest share of the vote in Italy’s lower house.
The anti-establishment movement led by former comedian Beppe Grillo has gained substantial support, and is third behind the major coalitions.
Outgoing prime minister Mario Monti was slated for fourth place, with only around 10 per cent of the vote.
The predicted results raise the possibility of deadlock which would paralyse the government.
European capitals and the financial markets had been concerned that no clear winner would emerge and stocks in Milan jumped by more than 3.5 per cent immediately after exit polls showed Mr Bersani’s party leading the lower house vote.
But the lacklustre turnout reflected widespread frustration among voters fed up with austerity cuts and a grinding recession.
In the first day of voting on Sunday, turnout was 55 per cent – seven percentage points lower than at the same time in the last elections in 2008.
“Italy turns its back on politics, deserts the ballot boxes, and this is how it registers its protest,” wrote the left-wing daily Il Fatto Quotidiano.
Leading daily Corriere della Sera said the low turnout reflected an “acute disorientation” in the electorate, facing a “crisis with no end in sight”.
Democratic Party leader Mr Bersani says he is the best man to promote a growth agenda for Europe and “turn the page” after Mr Berlusconi.
He has said he will abide by the budget discipline enforced by Mr Monti, a former European commissioner roped in after Mr Berlusconi’s ouster in 2011 who has done much to reassure financial markets.
But the former communist turned liberal economic reformer, Mr Bersani will face pressure from trade unions and many ordinary Italians who have seen unemployment rise to record highs and the economy spiral downwards.
Mr Bersani, 61, the son of a car mechanic from northern Italy, has tried to overcome his image as a party apparatchik and has surrounded himself with a youthful team with many women in the ranks.
His arch-rival, three-time prime minister Mr Berlusconi, has waged a populist campaign, blaming Germany for Italy’s economic woes and promising to refund an unpopular property tax to Italians – out of his own pocket if needed.
The 76-year-old media tycoon, who was mobbed by three topless feminists in a protest as he cast his ballot on Sunday, is a defendant in two trials – for tax fraud and for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute.
via Golden Age of Gaia
