ITALY:Is Italian centre-left leader Walter Veltroni about to outfox the old fox himself, centre-right leader and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi?
Widely considered to have no peer when it comes to electioneering, Mr Berlusconi may now face a much tougher than anticipated contest as he and former mayor of Rome Mr Veltroni prepare themselves for Italy's April 13th-14th, general election.
In the immediate wake of the fall last month of the centre-left government of Romano Prodi, many commentators predicted that the Berlusconi-led centre-right would emerge emphatic winners of any forthcoming election. Polls gave the centre-right a 10-15 point lead over the centre-left.
One month later, the picture may have changed. Yesterday, on the day that Mr Veltroni presented the Democratic Party's (PD) programme, one opinion poll suggested that the gap had been reduced to six points. Furthermore, that same poll, published by Rome daily La Repubblicasuggested that Mr Veltroni was the most popular politician in Italy with a 53.1 per cent approval rating as opposed to the 43.6 per cent rating for Mr Berlusconi.
Mr Berlusconi seemed to indicate the changing nature of the electoral contest three days ago on television when he spoke of the possibility, if necessary, of forming a government of national unity. Subsequently, he corrected himself, saying that he only been dealing with a hypothesis and arguing that the centre-right would emerge victorious with workable majorities in both houses of parliament.
His remarks did not go unnoticed, however. Mr Veltroni perceived an advantage, arguing that the right was no longer so sure of victory.
Mr Berlusconi's opponent has confirmed himself as an effective adversary. Running a campaign complete with a nationwide electoral bus tour and a host of new young candidates, Mr Veltroni (52) comes across as not only affable but fresh, innovative and willing to talk across the right-left divide.
Mr Berlusconi (71) is much given to communicating his message from a TV studio or in a set-piece electoral rally, while his opponent strikes a different tone with interviews given in the relative informality and confusion of his electoral bus, as it motors through the Italian landscape.
The poll suggests that only 24.5 per cent see Mr Berlusconi's new Popolo della Libertà (PDL) party as something new, tending rather to see it as an electoral pact and a continuation of his old "House of Freedom" alliance.
In contrast, 43.2 per cent of respondents claim that Mr Veltroni's PD party represents something new, rather than the continuation of the Prodi government.
Typical of the Veltroni campaign was a meeting last Sunday which marked his resignation as mayor of Rome and the presentation of the centre-left candidate to replace him, deputy prime minister Francesco Rutelli, himself also a former mayor of Rome.
Among those to take part in the meeting were the relatives of victims of left- and right-wing terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s.