Setback for Silvio Berlusconi after poor local election results

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Setback for Silvio Berlusconi after poor local election results
Italy's prime minister said to be 'surprised and saddened' after first round of voting punctures image of invincibility
Reuters
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 May 2011 19.10 BST

~snip~
Both Berlusconi's PDL party and its Northern League allies did badly in the first round of voting on Sunday and Monday in elections in 1,310 towns and 11 provinces. The polls were seen as a key test for the premier midway through his third term.

Berlusconi's centre-right bloc suffered the biggest shock in their stronghold of Milan, trailing a centre-left candidate who forced them into a run-off for the first time in 14 years.

~snip~
In contrast to the period before the vote, when he bombarded the air waves with comments in a round of frenetic campaigning, Berlusconi remained uncharacteristically silent on Tuesday, 24 hours after polls closed in the two-day first round. The media magnate had turned the elections into a vote on him and his national policies, but the strategy spectacularly backfired.

Analysts said that even though the centre right could fight back in run-offs in two weeks, the vote had already undermined Berlusconi's reputation as Italy's dominant political force for the first time since he stormed to power in 1994.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/17/silvio-berlusconi-local-election-results