ITALY: They are called the impresentabili (literally, the unpresentable ones). No, they are not the stars of the latest Bertolucci film, but a variety of would-be parliamentary candidates whose extreme politics are causing the centre-left and centre-right coalitions serious embarrassment in the countdown to drawing up the electoral lists for Italy's general elections on April 9th-10th.
In the left corner, we have drag queen Vladimir Luxuria, no-global movement leader Francesco Caruso and the Trotskyist Marco Ferrando.
The latter outraged the families of 19 Italian soldiers killed in a suicide bomb attack on the Italian base of Nassiriya, southern Iraq, in October 2003 when telling Milan-daily Corriere Della Sera that he supported "the right of the Iraqi population to rise up against our troops", adding also that he considered Israel "an artificial state".
In the right corner are senior figures in two tiny neo-fascist movements, Forza Nuova and the New MSI (ex-Fascist party), who form part of a list proposed by the Alternative Sociale (AS) movement led by Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of Il Duce Benito Mussolini.
On SkyItalia TV recently, Forza Nuovo leader Roberto Fiore described Adolf Hitler as a "statesman who also committed some crimes".
New MSI leader Gaetano Saya was hardly less controversial when telling Corriere Della Sera that "immigrants are a danger to the purity of the race", adding cheerfully, "we have nothing against homosexuals, against queers. They should stay out of sight as much as possible, their presence is a deviant force in our society".
For coalition leaders prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on the centre-right and former European Commission president Romano Prodi on the centre-left, the dilemma is not new.
In the run down to what looks more and more like a very close contest, both coalitions have been keen to pull in as many votes as possible by spreading their electoral nets far and wide.
Too wide, however, was the reaction of Rifondazione Communista (RC) leader Fausto Bertinotti whose party, a member of the centre-left coalition, had opted to stand Trotskyist Ferrando in an Abruzzo constituency. At a party meeting today, Mr Bertinotti is expected to delete Mr Ferrando from the electoral list because "he has put himself way outside the party line".
While Mr Bertinotti's rejection of Marco Ferrando has won him plaudits from his centre-left allies, above all from leader Mr Prodi, the RC leader is sticking to his guns regarding his two other controversial candidates, namely drag queen Luxuria and no-global leader Caruso.
On the other side of the fence, Mr Berlusconi and his allies insist their dealings with the far-right are exclusively linked to Ms Mussolini's AS party which, according to Mr Berlusconi, will only field "candidates with guaranteed democratic credentials".