ITALY: Italian prime minister Romano Prodi's centre-left coalition scored some big wins in local polls, comfortably passing its first test at the ballot box since its narrow victory in last month's general election.
In four big cities where mayoral elections were held, the centre-left easily kept control of Rome, Turin and Naples, final results showed yesterday.
In Milan, a centre-right stronghold, Silvio Berlusconi's candidate won, but by a smaller margin than expected.
"It has gone very well," Mr Prodi said. "Apart from Milan . . . the other cities, the most important ones, are in our hands."
The results are a boost for Mr Prodi, who needed a good showing in the local polls to counter claims by Mr Berlusconi that his knife-edge victory in April was the result of irregularities during the vote.
They could also strengthen the premier's hand as he tackles deteriorating public finances that could trigger a downgrade of Italy's debt rating, unless he can push through unpopular reforms with his slim parliamentary majority.
The polls were certain to have disappointed Mr Berlusconi, who had hoped for a swift comeback after losing power in the closest election in Italy's postwar history. "The failed revenge," was the headline of a front-page editorial in left-leaning La Repubblica yesterday.
The two-day vote across more than 1,260 cities and towns ended on Monday afternoon.
"If Berlusconi's idea was revenge, what he got was another taste of defeat," said deputy prime minister Massimo D'Alema.
Analysts said lower voter turnout penalised Mr Berlusconi, whose centre-right tends to have more trouble getting its supporters to polls. Only 71.2 per cent of voters cast ballots, compared with 80.6 per cent in the last mayoral election. - (Reuters)