The Italians love a good drama and they have one on their hands today. Officials say Romano Prodi has unseated Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Italy’s closest election ever.
According to Bloomberg News, “Prodi, 66, and his allies won 158 seats in the Senate to 156 for Berlusconi’s coalition after gaining four of the six seats set aside for Italians living abroad, results from the Interior Ministry showed. Prodi’s alliance won the Chamber of Deputies by a margin of just 25,224 out of more than 38 million votes cast.”
Berlusconi is challenging the results and Italy’s Interior Ministry is reviewing more than 43,000 disputed ballots. Things only get more complicated with Italy’s parliamentary system. The new — very divided –parliament has to agree on a new president to replace President Ciampi whose term is expiring. It could take some time to agree on a new president and only them does the new president appoint a new prime minister.
Stay tuned…