Italian elections

I'm not from Italy, but I lived there for a few years, and I DO NOT wish to see Berlusconi win this election. They're saying it's too close to call, but this guy's a magician - I wouldn't be surprised if he manages to again come out on top.

The B's that supported the invasion of Iraq always seem to get re-elected... Bush, Blair - so I expect Berlusconi will too :O)

It seems the italians can't make their minds up. My one italian friend did not vote because doctors were cutting him open at the time, he didn't say who he didn't vote for.

"I know diddlysquat about Prodi, but from the comments I've seen from a few Italians, he doesn't seem to have made much of an impact." No, and this is quite an achievement considering that for four or five year he was, in theory at least, one of the most powerful men in Europe as head of the European Commission. I can't imagine anyone like Berlusconi ever being elected in Britain. He's like a cross between Rupert Murdoch and Kilroy.

I think he brought back PR because he thought it would give him a better chance of winning. The interesting thing is the law that says that, in the lower house, the winning coalition automatically gets a load more seats than the losing one, so Prodi actually has a reasonable majority in the lower house. In the upper house, things could be swung by a few 'life senators' at least one of whom is in his late 80s and may sleep through crucial votes. I think Berlusconi is Italy's longest serving leader ever, with the exception of Mussolini. I don't think Prodi - a mediocre politician leading a coalition including everyone from moderately right-wing Catholics to extremely batty communists - is likely to threaten that record. I think anything more than a year would be a big acheivement.