ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s 5-Star Movement closed its election campaign with an upbeat rally in Rome on Friday after leaders on the center-right, its biggest rival, were caught on an open microphone bemoaning the anti-establishment party’s popularity.
Pollsters predict Sunday’s parliamentary election to result in a hung parliament in which former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s alliance of center-right groups will be the largest bloc and 5-Star the biggest single party.
The ruling center-left Democratic Party (PD) has failed to capitalize on a tentative economic recovery following the worst recession since World War Two and the coalition it heads could end up in third place.
“The earth is collapsing beneath their feet,” 5-Star wrote on its official blog after rightist leaders accidentally revealed on Thursday that they fear the 5-Star will triumph in the south, potentially sinking any chance they had of outright victory.
A blackout on opinion polls was imposed two weeks ago, but parties have carried out their own surveys.
“They are doing really well, really well,” Giorgia Meloni, head of Brothers of Italy, told her allies at a joint rally on Thursday during a private conversation that was picked up by an open microphone and which went viral on social media.
Raffaele Fitto, head of the tiny“We’re With Italy” party, added that support for the PD was“collapsing” in the south.
“Oh God,” said Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-Europe, anti-immigration League, adding he hoped support for the PD remained above 20 percent to help hold off 5-Star.
Party leaders have all ruled out any post-election alliances with rivals. However, Italy has a decades-long history of finding a way out of apparently intractable political stalemate and financial markets appear little concerned by the prospect of a confused result.
Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, a PD heavyweight, warned on Friday that Italy’s recovery could be derailed by the outcome of the vote and cautioned against the rise of populists.
“The most serious risk would be success for populist parties,” he told newspaper Corriere della Sera.“New elections would show a certain fragility and instability, but it would be worse to go down the path of populism.”
Despite the polls’ predictions of a poor showing, Gentiloni’s party may benefit from economic figures released on Friday which confirmed that the euro zone’s third-biggest economy is on the upswing, and a successful Industry Ministry bid to save 500 factory jobs.
The center-right bloc has agreed that whichever of its parties wins the most seats will pick the prime minister. In another aside picked up by the microphone on Thursday, Meloni told Salvini that the League would beat Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy!).
Berlusconi 81, has served as Italy’s prime minister four times but is barred from holding public office until 2019 because of a 2013 tax fraud conviction.
He said on Thursday that European Parliament President Antonio Tajani would be his choice to head any future government, a moderate figure who would reassure EU capitals alarmed by anti-European rhetoric from Berlusconi’s allies.
“I know it’s a shame to take Antonio Tajani away from Europe, but it’s in the best interest of Italy,” Berlusconi said.
Party leaders are holding a frenetic round of television and radio interviews on Friday. The 5-Star’s rally in Rome is one of only a few major events organized for its election campaign, which has mainly been played out on social media.
Campaigning is banned on Saturday. Voting runs from 7.00 a.m to 11.00 p.m. (0600-2200 GMT) on Sunday with exit polls released when balloting ends.
However, the possibility of deadlock and the complex calculations required by a hybrid proportional/first-past-the-post electoral law mean it may be many hours before a precise count of parliamentary seats is available.
Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Raissa Kasolowsky