A voter casts her ballot in Rome, Sunday. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian electorate delivered a hung parliament on Sunday, in a vote that was largely tilted towards anti-establishment and far-right parties. According to exit polls, none of Italy’s three main blocs or groups is poised to get majority vote and will look towards cobbling up a coalition. The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement is set to be the single largest party, pollsters predicted.
A centre-right alliance, including former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy!), was seen winning 37.3 per cent in the upper house Senate, according to SWG pollsters, short of the 40 per cent analysts believe is needed for a majority. The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement is on track to win 32.3 per cent of the vote, while the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) is projected to see its support collapse to 18.9 per cent. Within the rightist bloc, the League may get 17.5 per cent of the votes, well ahead of the more moderate Forza Italia, suggesting its pledge of zero tolerance on immigration and tough anti-EU rhetoric had resonated with voters.
On Sunday, Italians cast their ballots for the 945 member Parliament. The people cast their votes for the 630 member lower chamber, known as the Camera dei Deuptati, and the 315 member Senate, known as the Camera del Senato. Heavily indebted Italy is the third largest economy in the 19-member euro zone.
Italy election results LIVE updates:
- Mar 5, 2018 at 12:38 pmNow I understand as to why Rahul Gandhi went to Italy foregoing the elections in NE states. It is election time in Italy which may have been liked by Rahul than Indian election.Reply
- Mar 5, 2018 at 11:47 amanti-pedophile/anti-terrorist parties are gaining ground throughout the world,, seems date of final-solution is nearing quicker than thought.Reply
Mar 5, 2018 at 9:35 amDID RAUL GO TO ITALY RECENTLY TO CAST HIS VOTE?????Reply- Mar 5, 2018 at 3:49 pmYes Opposition party of Italy invited him so that other pary LOOSES....haa haa haaReply
Luigi Di Maio, leader of the anti-estabishment 5-Star Movement, said on Monday the group was open to talks with all political parties after it emerged as Italy's largest bloc in Sunday's inconclusive national vote, reports Reuters.
With counting of votes in progress, initial reactions from parties have begun to pour in. Maurizio Martina, vice-secretary of PD, condemned the election as "a clear and obvious defeat for us”. Commenting on the exit poll projections, Five-Star Movement deputy said, “Now, everyone will have to come and talk to us.”
Five Star's support is slipping a bit to about 31 per cent, from a projection of 33 per cent earlier. Italy's national broadcaster showed its first exit polls as: 5-Star Movement: 29 per cent - 32 per cent; Forza Italia: 13 to 16 per cent; Lega: 13 to 16 per cent; PD: 20.5 to 23.5 per cent.
Indian shares fell sharply on Monday and were set to extend losses to a fourth straight session as Asian shares dropped on fears of a global trade war and political uncertainty in Italy.
First constituency result in for Valle D'Oasta. 5-Star Movement candidate Elisa Tripodi wins with 15,999 votes. Runner-up is Alessia Favre from Favre-Laniece with 14,429 votes.
Leader of France's National Front, Marine Le Pen expressed delight at the good show put upon by anti-establishment and anti-immigrant parties in the Italy elections. "The European Union is going to have a bad night," Marine Le Pen tweeted. Meanwhile, Brexit firebrand Nigel Farage congratulated the 5 Star Movement, his allies in the European Parliament, "for topping the poll" as Italy's biggest single party.
Italy's Democratic Party, Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, who is also the former chief economist of the OECD, is neck-and-neck with the League's candidate Carlo Borghi for a seat in Siena - the PD's heartland.
Pollster SWG predicts the Centre-Right which is Berlusconi's coalition will have 127-147 seats.
The 5 Star Movement are heading for between 95 and 115 seats.
The Centre-left which comprises of Renzi and allies are due to get 50-70 seats.
The Prime Minister isn’t elected directly by the people. In the days following the elections, the President, currently Sergio Mattarella, summons the representatives of the elected parliamentary groups to the Quirinal Palace to gauge what government, supported by what party or coalition of parties (the so-called parliamentary majority), has the sufficient numbers to obtain the Chamber of Deputies’ and Senate’s vote of confidence and, therefore, govern.
The Euro also drew support from the German coalition deal inked on Sunday, which will see Chancellor Angela Merkel forming her fourth government after the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) voted in favour of another grand coalition. The vote by 464,000 rank-and-file members ends five months of political deadlock since September's election.
In power since 2005, Merkel steered the European bloc through the financial crisis and debt crisis, but her authority was dented by her 2015 decision to open Germany's borders to migrants, resulting in an influx of more than a million people. That cost her party dearly in last year's election, which saw the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party enter parliament for the first time.
Experts are worried there is a growing risk the stalemate will be tough to manage. During two months of election campaigning, party leaders repeatedly ruled out any post-election tie-ups with their rivals. The Parliament will meet for the first time on March 23 and formal talks on forming a government are not likely to start until early April.
Former White House adviser Steve Bannon told the Italian press that a hookup between the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement and the anti-immigration League was "the ultimate dream". "The Italian people have gone farther, in a shorter period of time, than the British did for Brexit and the Americans did for Trump," said Bannon. He characterised the election as "pure populism".
An exit poll by private channel La7 put Berlusconi's coalition at between 32 and 37.6 per cent and the Five Star Movement between 28.8 and 30.8 per cent. The ruling centre-left Democratic Party was trailing in third place, according to the exit polls.
Italy's Senate seat projection based on actual vote count sees 5-Star Movement taking 102-122 seats. But 158 are needed for a majority.
The M5S was founded by comedian Beppe Grillo in 2009 and soon gained traction among the people. It was borne out of apparent frustration with the political establishment in a country with a stagnant economy and widespread corruption at the highest echelons.
Asian shares hovered near 2-1/2 week lows and the safe-haven yen rose on Monday amid fears of a global trade war, while the euro pared gains as investors worried Italy's national elections could deliver an anti-establishment government. After a see-saw start, the euro eased back to $1.2320 from a two-week high of $1.2365 amid talk the eurosceptic 5-star party could form a coalition government.
For those who have just joined here is a round up of the Italian elections and the main issues surrounding it. Sunday's elections are the 18th general polls for the country since 1948. Since the last 73 years, Italy has had 65 governments. In 2017, the Italian Parliament voted to form a new electoral law called the Rosatellum which acts as a mixed system of voting. Accordingly, 36 per cent of the seats is allocated according to the system of ‘first past the post’ voting, wherein the candidate with the largest number of votes wins. Sixty-four percent of the seats on the other hand is allocated using a proportional method which sees a list of candidates chosen by party members who get more votes.
Here is everything you need to know
Welcome to our live blog on Italy election results. Italy went to polls on Sunday in what could bring political stalemate after a poll campaign rife with public displeasure over the country’s stagnant economy, high unemployment rates and immigration. Votes are not expected to be fully counted until around 2pm on Monday local time (1pm GMT).