Both Italian government and opposition forces were yesterday claiming victory in Sunday's European elections, in which the centre-right Forza Italia party of the opposition leader, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, emerged as the strongest in the land while the centre-left government coalition forces led by the Prime Minister, Mr Massimo D'Alema, finished 2 per cent ahead of Mr Berlusconi's opposition coalition.
Although Forza Italia polled 25.2 per cent, well ahead of the 17.4 per cent polled by Mr D'Alema's Democratic Left (exPCI) party, it was the government coalition which defied Sunday night's exit-poll prediction of defeat to emerge the stronger with a combined 40.1 per cent as opposed to the 38.1 per cent obtained by the centre-right. Contributing to the finely balanced outcome were the positive performances by two electoral newcomers, the Democrats, led by European Commission President-elect Mr Romano Prodi, with 7.7 per cent and the "Lista Bonino" movement led by ex-Radical and current European Commissioner, Ms Emma Bonino, with a surprising 8.5 per cent.
While the Democrats' votes remain within the 40.1 per cent centre-left government coalition, Ms Bonino's votes remain outside both government and opposition. Within hours of initial results coming through early yesterday morning, former Radical party leader Mr Marco Pannella, the mastermind behind Ms Bonino's brilliantly successful campaign, promised that the "Lista Bonino" votes would be used to form "an opposition party against the government and against the opposition". When the "Lista Pannella" contested the 1996 general election, it did so as part of Mr Berlusconi's centre-right "Freedom Pole".
Commenting on the results yesterday morning, Mr D'Alema denied that his government had suffered a setback, pointing out that not only had the centre-left vote extended its political constituency but that it had also topped the 40 per cent mark. This last observation was by way of rejoinder to Mr Berlusconi, who throughout the campaign had called on the government to resign if it failed to top 40 per cent.
Opposition spokesman Mr Enrico La Loggia of Forza Italia, however, retorted that Mr D'Alema's party was no longer the strongest in the land, while the results showed that nearly 60 per cent of voters had voted against the government. In the 1996 general election, Democratic Left polled 21.1 per cent, just ahead of the 20.6 returned by Forza Italia, while at the 1994 European elections, however, Forza Italia did even better than last weekend, polling 30.6 per cent as compared to the 19.1 per cent returned by Democratic Left.
While government and opposition argue about the interpretation and implications of Sunday's vote, the Italian electorate, not for the first time, showed itself more concerned with EU issues than the major parties. While Mr Berlusconi, Mr D'Alema and others fought a campaign designed to test domestic strengths, the electorate expressed huge approval for the two forces which campaigned with the most obviously "European" agenda, namely Mr Prodi's Democrats and Ms Bonino's movement.
Among those parties to suffer significant reverses were Mr Berlusconi's centre-right ally, Alleanza Nazionale, which despite joining forces with the electoral reform campaigner Mr Mario Segni, still sank to 10.3 per cent, down on the 12.5 per cent of 1994 and the 15.7 polled at the 1996 general election.
Nearly all the smaller parties suffered setbacks.