Election Update
Forgot to mention a week or so ago that Thai PM Thaskin, stood down after nobody really respected his "victory" over a no vote...Back to Italy
And it's to close to call....
At the moment it looks like Prodi will take the lower house of parliament with a lead of 51.4% compared to Berlusconi's 47.9%
The problem is in the Senate.... Where Berlusconi is leading by some 20,000 votes.
As explained by our friends at News.com.au
In order to govern, one of the coalitions has to win control of both houses of parliament. A parliament divided between the two sides would be a nightmare scenario of complete stalemate.
Experts say a split could result in several possibilities, including a German-style "grand coalition", a technocrat government, or even fresh elections.
I'll try to keep this updated....
UPDATE #1: The counting of ballots has now been going on in Italy for 10 hours... and not surprisingly Prodi is Pissed... in a brief address to supporters outside his central Rome headquarters, Prodi described the delay as "absolutely incomprehensible".
"We don't understand what's happening, we still don't have the results, but we are full of hope and we are waiting," he said to loud cheers from thousands of supporters anxiously waiting to claim victory.
UPDATE #2: According to the BBC Prodi is declaring victory, but nobody else is saying anything....interesting...
UPDATE #3: Prodi's proclamation is only about the lower house, still no word from anybody else...
UPDATE #4: According to News.com.au Prodi has taken the lead in the Senate (upper house) by 1 seat....
FINAL UPDATE #5: Berlusconi refuses to accept his defeat thanks to News.com.au...
Mr Berlusconi's centre-right alliance contested Mr Prodi's claim of triumph, saying it wanted to check reports that half a million votes had been annulled.
"This is intolerable. What is this? A coup? It reminds me of South America. Auto proclamation (of victory) is constitutionally illegitimate," said Industry Minister Claudio Scajola, a member of Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia (Go Italy) party.
posted by Mark @ 4:27 PM
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