Berlusconi confident of electoral victory in 2006

Silvio Berlusconi today said he was confident of being re-elected as Italy’s premier next year, and challenged polls that indicated he was lagging behind the centre-left opposition.

Speaking at a meeting of the centre-right governing coalition in Rome, the premier said he was sure he could win general elections due by mid-2006 by an “ample margin,” the ANSA news agency reported.