Italians showed their distaste for squabbling politicians, says Samia Nkrumah Media magnate Silvio Berlusconi has been returned to power in Italy in this week's parliamentary elections only two years after losing to the centre-left. This week's results came as no surprise as they reflected opinion polls in recent weeks. Concerned with the country's economic difficulties, including weak economic growth and mushrooming public debt, many worried voters ignored ideology and looked to the man who claims to have concrete answers. Voters opted for the less fractious coalition of the centre-right which came through with a clear majority in both houses of parliament. In the lower house, Berlusconi's Partito della Liberta (PDL) won 340 seats to the 239 won by the main centre-left rival, Partito Democratico (PD) led by Rome's ex-mayor Walter Verltroni. The PDL also has a majority in the upper house or Senate with 168 seats against the PD's 130. Commentators were quick to signal the bicameral triumph. The smaller parties that stood on independent platforms failed to make any headway while those who joined the twin poles of the PDL or PD survived to be represented in parliament. The new parliament will have nine parties instead of over 20 in 2006. For the first time in many years, smaller leftist groups and the greens will not be represented in the new parliament, having failed to garner the four per cent required to get into parliament. It remains to be seen what the impact of their absence will have in the country's democratic scene. No doubt, the electoral law was not in favour of the smaller parties. There was consensus to avoid the inefficiency of a weak coalition government like the former one led by Romano Prodi. According to some analysts, the leftist groups also suffered from a shift in the working class allegiance. Many of lower income citizens, whose salaries are generally depleted by the middle of the month, scorned ideology and cast a vote of strong protest. Neither the centre-right nor the main centre-left parties seemed to address their plight. In the north, some voted for the Northern League, and in the south, their comrades opted for the centre-right. The striking rise of the pro-federalist and anti-immigrant Northern League headed by Umberto Bossi was instrumental in the centre- right's victory. The League fared better in these elections than in any other in the past, securing three million votes in the prosperous north. The elections were also characterised by a lower turnout than in 2006. Three per cent less of the electorate went to the polls, indicating another kind of protest, especially among centre-left voters who were disillusioned by the former Prodi government's failure to hold its coalition together. Only eight months into power, the former Prodi government began fighting for its survival and in the words of editor-in- chief of the daily Corriere della Sera, the country had to watch for two years its slow and agonising death. Perhaps that is what prompted Veltroni to stand under the banner of a new centre-left party -- the PD -- created only last November. The PD was pointedly devoid of the "militant" centrists and the far left in an attempt to maintain a clear programme. As Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, the incoming Berlusconi government had almost completed its ministerial selection, which will include two ministers from the League. The next president of the rich Lombardia region, encompassing Milan, the financial capital of Italy, will be from the League. Harsher immigration laws are expected. A careful balance to appease the League supporters while satisfying the country's clear need for foreign labour, especially in the industrial north, will be required. The incoming Berlusconi government will be put to the test at once. The centre-right promised during its campaign that it will begin its term by tackling the sale of the national airline Alitalia. They also pledged to attend to the accumulated garbage crisis in Naples where the Council of Ministers is due to meet.
