BBC: Prodi Looks set to be confirmed - Center Left Coalition beats *pal

[autorank]

Viva Italia!!!

BBC NEWS
Italian poll result set to stand
Romano Prodi looks set to be confirmed as the winner of Italy's general election after the number of contested ballots was drastically lowered.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4909120.stm

The interior ministry said it had made an error and only 5,000 votes were being checked, instead of about 80,000.

However, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has told supporters in Rome he is "carrying on" and will "resist".

Our correspondent says even if all the contested ballots went to Mr Berlusconi the final result would not change.

<snip>

The results are considered provisional until Italy's supreme court, the Corte di Cassazione, rules on their validity. This is expected to happen next week.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4909120.stm

Published: 2006/04/14 19:00:05 GMT

© BBC MMVI

[ananda]

1. Yay!

Good.

Italy will be pulling out of Iraq, and Bush will no longer
have a coalition of the willing other than the very strange
co-rapturist Blair.

Sue

[marmar]

2. Being a Bush ally is a major liability...

if you're running for president or prime minister anywhere else in the world.

[autorank]

3. Arrivederci Silvio. I hear Dubai has some nice condos opening up.

Name the tyrants

Berlusconi is in trouble now. The Center Left coalition will be able to investigate him and the election
without the interference of a premier who blows off the investigation.

Silvio cannot travel in certain European countries because there is a warrant out on him. This means
that absent the diplomatic immunitiy of being president, he's going to get some requests for a guest
appearance. Of course, Great Britain is one of those countries and bLIAR won't want to bother with
it. Not proper, ya know.

We win a squeaker for a change. It's a trend!

[goclark]

7. There really is a resemblance

between * and the other EVIL KILLER!

[DemInDistress]

4. think someone will try to assassinate this guy prodi? Lots of

sore losers in this crowd.They have much to lose like inside information regarding those Niger documents,blind loyalty toward King George the Imbecile and other hidden fiasco's we haven't heard of. The trail of dead bodies left behind in the wake of 2000 stretches around the world.

imho only.. thanks

[autorank]

5. Very bad move on any body's part. First, Berlusconi probably fixed

the polls. He trailed by 5% in the last exit poll and that could have been rigged too.

It appears that the real sentiment in Italy is that Berlusconi is a bum. In addition to the
general negative karma from that sort of thing, there's the Italian people to deal with. When
they get fed up, they're fed up.

I think we're looking at some major disruption by Berlusconi's faction but if Silvio is indicted,
watch that melt. The Italian right won't recover for decades.

Remember the Italian who was shot in Iraq. The people were furious. I think that Prodi will do
well.

[Robbien]

6. The good news is Berlusconi is out, the bad news is

Prodi is in favor of neo-libralism.

According to the Enclopedia Britannia:

During his 28 months as prime minister, Prodi privatized telecommunications and reformed the government's employment and pension policies. He significantly reduced the budget deficit in order to get the country accepted into the European Monetary Union (EMU), a task that had seemed all but impossible when he took office. Disputes over the country's proposed budget, however, resulted in the loss of support from some left-wing members of his coalition, and Prodi resigned in October 1998.

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9383769

[autorank]

8. I agree that Prodi is no prize but my gawd, Berlusconi...

And Prodi won't be "best friend" south of England for *. Who knows, maybe the guy
will turn out OK. Nothing is worse than Berlusconi, a real horror show.

Thanks for the information.

[JI7]

9. Berlusconi belongs in prison

[autorank]

10. BBC Update Link below: Berlusconi Refulses to Accept Defeat

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2228166

[Robbien]

11. Still? I wonder how all this is playing in Italy's controlled media

While it may seem silly to us that Berlusconi is not accepting defeat, his statements may be dovetailing with the propaganda news being spread inside the country and seem perfectly logical to Italians.

[autorank]

12. Good question. Here' s a resource.

Doug Ireland, leftie journalist in Italy, has a blog. It has an explanation of the some of the
ins and outs of the election.

Despite having an audience with the Pope just before the election;
an American firm do polling that was 5% higher in his favor (putting him ahead by a point);
his own media pumping out propaganda; and, clever dude that he is,
having only party labels not names on the ballot, despite all this he lost.

http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2006/03/letter_from_rom.html

Why not give this a vote and we can share the lovely world of Berlusconi's strange manipulations
with the rest of DU.

:hi:

[Robbien]

15. Thanks, Yes, Doug Ireland's blog is great isn't it?

I went over to Der Spiegel and found this

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,411513,00.html

From this paragraph:

Berlusconi and Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini now expect a new election within a year. They doubt that Prodi's qualities as a prime minister will be sufficient to hold together his slim majority past the end of 2006.

I take it to mean if confidence in a Prime Minister in Italy drops they hold a new election even before the five years are up. If so, Prodi has a tough road ahead with Berlusconi holding all the media outlets.

[autorank]

16. Exactly! Berlusconi needs to be indicted. I think he's fighting

grandly in retreat, because he holds so much power. But he is in retreat.

Ireland's blog is great. I've bookmarked it.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. Hey, Silvio! Shut up and report to The Hague

. . . and your British and American friends with you.



The Palace of Peace
The Hague
Home of the International Criminal Court

Photo from the Dossier Nederland (The Netherlands)

[cascadiance]

14. Berlusconi should know when to give up!

After all, does he want to endure the same fate that his hero Mussolini did when Italy finally rejected him too? Do you want to be executed and hung upside down along with your fascist buddies there?