Berlusconi braced for more local election defeats

Parties from Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative coalition yesterday appeared largely headed for their latest defeat at the hands of the centre-left opposition, according to partial results from local elections on the island of Sardinia and parts of northern Italy.

The voting, on Sardinia and in the mountainous regions of Valle d’Aosta and Trentino-Alto Adige, came a month after the conservative parties of Berlusconi’s centre-right government suffered a severe setback in regional ballots across most of the rest of the country.

In Sardinia, with more than half the precincts reporting several hours after the polls closed, centre-left parties were leading centre-right tickets in the race for the island’s provincial presidencies by solid margins.

In the two northern regions, the centre-left was also making a strong showing in balloting on Sunday.

The vote follows elections in 13 of Italy’s 20 regions held April 3-4, in which Berlusconi’s coalition suffered an embarrassing defeat, gaining just two of the regions up for grabs.

Following that poor showing, Berlusconi resigned, reshuffled his Cabinet in a bid to shore up his coalition and quickly formed a new government, vowing to lead it until general elections next spring.

In all, some 2.3 million voters were eligible to cast ballots Sunday and yesterday.