One face, one name and one controversial track record cast an awesome shadow over tomorrow's Italian general election. More than 49 million people will be called to elect not only 945 senators and deputies, but also the mayors of some of Italy's most important cities.

That name and that face, of course, belong to centre-right opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi, the man widely expected to emerge from tomorrow's vote as prime minister of Italy's 59th post-war government. Even though issues such as unemployment, taxation, immigration, crime, pensions, reform of the judiciary, federalism and education all feature prominently in the similar programmes of the two major coalitions, the moral question regarding Mr Berlusconi has dominated the final weeks of campaign.

An outsider might easily conclude that this is not so much a general as a presidential election featuring just two men, Mr Berlusconi of the House of Liberties, and the ex-mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli, of the centre-left Olive coalition.

There are also some influential, independent smaller parties contesting the vote, such as the Radicals of former European Commissioner Emma Bonino, the Italy of Values party of former Clean Hands magistrate Antonio Di Pietro, the European Democracy movement that includes seven-times prime minister Giulio Andreotti, the hardline Marxist Rifondazione Communista party and the equally hardline Fascist Fiamme Tricolore movement.

All of them will doubtless be supported by a faithful minority following, but those votes are likely to be overwhelmed by the dialectic of what is essentially a bipolar, left-versus-right contest. In that context, many see a win for Mr Berlusconi's centre-right coalition over the outgoing centre-left government as nothing more than the healthy functioning of a bipolar democracy of alternatives.

To others, however, and these include not only centre-left exponents but also intellectual heavyweights such as writer Umberto Eco, philosopher Norberto Bobbio and Nobel prize laureate Dario Fo, a win for Mr Berlusconi would represent the installation of a regime relying heavily on his alleged ability to control 90 per cent of Italian terrestrial television, through his own Mediaset Group and the state broadcaster, RAI.

The basic questions concerning Mr Berlusconi, much aired in the international media in recent weeks, are obvious enough. Given his complex judicial track record (he has featured in at least 10 investigations involving charges of fraud, corruption, tax evasion and Mafia collusion), can Italians trust him? Given the potential conflict of interests prompted by Italy's richest man, head of a $14-billion empire, taking over the levers of power, are Italians wise in entrusting their democracy to him?

Available opinion poll evidence would suggest that a majority of Italians, all too familiar with the allegations, are unconcerned and will vote Berlusconi. Significantly, too, recent foreign media attacks on Mr Berlusconi prompted ex-FIAT president Gianni Agnelli to reject criticism that treated Italians "as if they were the electorate of a banana republic".

Mr Berlusconi has undoubtedly been helped by the apparent endorsement of big business. Arguably more important, though, is his charisma and populist touch, somewhere halfway between Ted Turner and Juan Peron. A photo album sent to 12 million Italian families and a contract, signed on TV this week and pledging him to drop out if he does not realise major programme aims, were just the latest examples of his uncanny electioneering skills.

On the last days of the campaign Mr Rutelli has attacked Mr Berlusconi, arguing that the centre-right leader is a source of alarm for European Union partners, that his fiscal policies will contravene the EU's stability pact, that Mr Berlusconi does not have the stature to lead Italy and that his self-imposed Blind Trust to resolve his conflict of interests is nothing more than a Blind Bluff.

Such attacks may not achieve their aim. For a start, once in office, Mr Berlusconi may well move more cautiously than his campaign rhetoric would suggest, especially on economic issues. Secondly, EU partners, still smarting over the difficulties provoked by Austria's Jorg Haider case, are likely to watch, wait and remain steadfastly silent.

If Mr Berlusconi is to encounter problems in office, they could well come from the same source that brought down his first, seven-month government in 1994 - his maverick ally, Federalist Northern League leader Umberto Bossi. Potential differences between Mr Bossi and the other major Berlusconi ally, Gianfranco Fini of Alleanza Nazionale, are such that a centre-right government could prove at least as fractious as its centre-left predecessor.

Critics of Mr Berlusconi have been issuing warnings to the effect that his victory tomorrow would represent a threat to democracy and the rule of law. That view is understandable but it perhaps misses the point. Silvio Berlusconi, media tycoon and football club owner turned prime minister, is not so much a threat to Italian democracy as a product of Italian democracy.