Berlusconi faces stiff challenge as Italy goes to polls

ITALIAN Premier Silvio Berlusconi is facing a strong challenge from his centre-left opponent Romano Prodi in parliamentary elections marked by disenchantment over Italy's stagnant economy and a bitter campaign.

Skies were sunny across much of Italy as polls opened for the first of two days of voting. The first exit poll results are expected after polling stations close this afternoon with first partial results hours later.

During Saturday night, three Molotov cocktails were thrown against a school that houses a polling station in the north-eastern town of Vittorio Veneto, and fliers found at the scene denounced both the left-wing and right-wing coalitions. No one was hurt and the polling stations opened as planned.

"I hope that everything will take place in a fair and calm manner," Mr Prodi told reporters after casting his ballot in Bologna.

Opinion polls were banned in the 15 days before election day, but most soundings of voter sentiment before the ban showed Mr Prodi's coalition with a slight edge.

"This year they really annoyed us," voter Antonio Recine said, referring to how the politicians behaved in the campaign. The first to cast a ballot at a station on Rome's ancient Aventine Hill, the 79-year-old Recine said he voted for the right, and indicated that Italy's sluggish economy, cited as a major campaign issue, didn't affect his voting.

"All told, it doesn't seem to me like we're starving here," Mr Recine said.

Defeat for Mr Berlusconi, who led Italy's longest-serving government since World War II, would deprive US President George W Bush of a strong ally who sent troops to Iraq.

Mr Prodi, a former premier who defeated Mr Berlusconi in 1996 for the premiership, is a former head of the EU's executive body. He has pledged to tone down Mr Berlusconi's strong relationship with Washington and strengthen the role of the 25-nation EU.

Mr Berlusconi showed up at a polling station in Milan, helping his mother, Rosa, to vote and casting his own ballot. The premier was reproached by officials for telling his mother to cross the symbol of his Forza Italia party and was told that campaigning is banned in the polling station. "I can't do that even with my mother?" he asked.

Some young people at a polling station in central Rome said they were persuaded to vote for Mr Prodi's coalition by its pledge to help them find fixed jobs and cut down on short-term work contracts.

"If they do what they promised, my personal situation could improve," said 28-year-old Davide Guerra, who complained that his short-term contract as a software programmer doesn't give him holiday pay or sick leave.

Linda Mille, a doctor who voted early on her way to work, said she cast her ballot for the centre-left, but described herself as more against Mr Berlusconi than in favour of Mr Prodi. "Really, I don't feel represented by anyone" in the election, Dr Mille said, "but I don't think there can be anyone worse than Berlusconi."

Angela Luciani, a 56-year-old housewife, acknowledged that Mr Berlusconi had made some mistakes, but voted to give the premier five more years in power, because "I don't agree with a socialist ideology and I wouldn't trust a leftist government".

The candidates' last televised debate on Monday was remarkable for the insults the two tossed at each other.