Italy's supreme court has confirmed Romano Prodi's razor-thin victory over Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in last week's general election, an Italian television news channel said on Wednesday. The 24-hour Sky TG24 news gave no source for its report. The court, which had been widely expected to make such a declaration later in the day, insisted official results of the April 9-10 ballot would only be know after 6 p.m. (1600 GMT).
Confirmation of victory would end days of political stalemate and clear the way for centre-left leader Prodi to form a government next month. Berlusconi has refused to concede defeat, alleging widespread irregularities and saying he hoped checks on disputed ballots would overturn the provisional results. The Interior Ministry said last week there were not enough disputed ballots to swing victory to the media tycoon, but some of Berlusconi allies have since complained about other aspects of the election, including how the centre-left vote was tallied.
The supreme court has not addressed those issues which means the centre-right might yet try to overturn the official results in subsequent legal action. This could be a lengthy process and would be unlikely to prevent Prodi from taking power. However, most of Berlusconi's allies have shown no taste for a prolonged legal dispute and are preparing instead to provide fierce opposition to Prodi in parliament. Even after the court's verdict, Italy faces weeks of political limbo as a new government is unlikely to be appointed before the second half of May.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=592482006Court Reveals Winner
Romano Prodi has been confirmed as the winner of the Italian elections, it is reported. The Court of Cassation made the announcement after reviewing the last of 5,200 contested ballots. The results were widely expected to confirm the slim victory of Mr Prodi over Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13519526,00.html
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