Italy: Prodi confident, Berlusconi belligerent

A confident Romano Prodi insisted yesterday that his centre-left coalition’s Italian election victory was on solid ground, but Premier Silvio Berlusconi called the vote fraudulent and demanded the result be overturned.

Prodi, an economist and former European Commission president, won by a narrow margin in this week’s parliamentary election. But he heads a potentially divided coalition that relies on parties ranging from pro-Vatican moderates to Communists.

“I do not fear a reversal of the results,” Prodi said yesterday, a day after official Interior Ministry returns gave him the victory.

He again played down concerns over the political viability of his coalition. “Our victory is safe,” he said. ”There’s the possibility of governing for five years.”

Berlusconi, meanwhile, refused to concede defeat and renewed his call for a thorough recount, alleging voting irregularities.

“There are many frauds. Many,” he told reporters as he left his office, in comments carried by the Apcom and ANSA news agencies.

He later appeared to back away from his allegation, releasing a statement in which he said that the very thin margin of victory “requires a scrupulous check to ascertain any possible error or irregularity.”

“It is pointless to play with words and attribute expressions or accusations against someone,” Berlusconi said in his statement, which was carried by the Italian agencies and did not make any mention of fraud.

The premier’s allegations apparently prompted a late-night phone call from Prodi to Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu, Apcom and ANSA reported, citing sources in the centre-left coalition. Details of the conversation were not known.

The dispute could usher in a period of uncertainty over the results, a process which could take weeks. The outcome of the election must be approved by Italy’s highest court, and it is up the president to give the head of the winning coalition a mandate to form a government

Berlusconi alluded to the possibility of a long wait.

“The (election) results must change,” Berlusconi said. ”There are (voting) reports from more than 60,000 districts to verify – one by one.”

He added: “You thought you were rid of me?”

The premier’s comments prompted an immediate response from Prodi, who was premier from 1996-1998. “We have won,” he said in his hometown of Bologna. “It’s useless for Berlusconi to find excuses or cause delays. He must go home.”

Earlier, Prodi noted that French President Jacques Chirac had called to congratulate him, but other world leaders, including US President George Bush and Pope Benedict XVI, had not.

Prodi also indicated that he would count on the support of Italy’s senators-for-life to ensure stability in parliament – an additional seven legislators appointed by the president.

“They vote and they’re part of the Senate,” Prodi said.

Prodi said he had begun talks on selecting a Cabinet, meeting with coalition parties earlier yesterday. He did not say when the government might be assembled but played down the uncertainty caused by Berlusconi’s demands.

“I do not know what he’s talking about,” Prodi said. ”Since he controls everything, he doesn’t trust himself.” Berlusconi has demanded a careful “check” of the votes.

After each election in Italy, each district goes back and checks ballots that were contested but could not be immediately voided or attributed to any party.

Italy’s top criminal court, the Court of Cassation, uses the districts’ reports to recalculate the number of lawmakers assigned to each party.

The race for the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament, produced some 43,000 contested ballots – while Prodi’s coalition won by a mere 25,000 votes.

In the 315-member Senate, Prodi’s coalition won 158 seats; the centre-right 156, and one independent was elected.

Berlusconi, referring to the vote of Italians abroad, which proved crucial in the Senate race, said: “There are many irregularities and therefore it’s possible that this is not a vote we can say is valid.”

Election-related complaints are made to the electoral committees of each chamber of parliament, and must come within 20 days from when the new lawmakers are proclaimed.

Also yesterday, Prodi again ruled out the possibility of forming a “grand coalition” with members from the right and the left, as Berlusconi had proposed.

He did not say who might head his ministries, and refused to say whether party leaders would be part of his Cabinet – a technique often used in Italy to guarantee ironclad support within broad coalitions.

In Italy, it usually takes a few weeks to get through the procedures to form a government. In this case, the matter is further complicated by the fact that the mandate of President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi runs out in mid-May.

By law, the president must give the nod to a new premier, who is generally understood to be the leader of the winning coalition. But the current president has indicated he would leave the task to his successor.

Prodi said yesterday that parliamentary negotiations on Ciampi’s successor would begin soon. Ciampi met separately with Prodi and Berlusconi yesterday.

The new government would then have to win a vote of confidence in both houses of parliament, which under the Italian system have equal powers.