FREEDOM Alliances or Olive Tree? Fittingly Italy's general election campaign officially closed last night, 24 hours before tomorrow's vote, with a live television confrontation between the two major protagonists, the centre-right leader, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, and the centre-left leader, Mr Romano Prodi.
Up to 30 per cent of the 49 million eligible voters are still undecided at this late stage. Consequently both the Freedom Alliance on the right and the Olive Coalition on the left were hoping to win those extra few votes which may be enough to an election that is far too close to call.
As Italians troop to the polls for the third time in four years they can be excused a certain weariness. At times in the last month it has been difficult for the electorate to differentiate between two factions who both claim to represent the brave new face of Italian politics.
The similarity may be partly explained by the fact that both have concentrated on being plausible in order to win the undecided centre. At the same time they have played down once-extreme elements in their coalitions, the ex-fascist Alleanza Nazionale on the right and the excommunist Democratic Left (PDS).
Confusion and the weariness of the electorate, however, cannot take from the importance of these elections. They come at a critical moment in Italy's continuing struggle to reshape an entire ruling system after the downfall two years ago of the Christian Democrat/Socialist axis.
Italians must choose between two wide-ranging electoral alliances. On the right, the Freedom Alliance comprises not only Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party but also Alleanza Nazionale (likely to win more votes than Forza Italia), former Christian Democrats and the maverick former Radical party of Mr Marco Pannella.
On the left, the Olive Coalition led by Prof Prodi is dominated by the PDS but also comprises the Italian Popular Party (ex-Christian Democrat), the Greens and the Italian Renewal Movement of the current caretaker Prime Minister, Mr Lamberto Dini.
Tomorrow Italians must choose between a Freedom Pact and an Olive Tree, between a right which lays great emphasis on entrepreneurial skill and a left which underlines social justice. They must choose between a centre-right leader who proved disastrously incompetent in office in 1994 and a left-wing leader who has no previous experience of government.
Definitive results are expected by early on Monday evening.