Even if the final results decree centre-left leader Romano Prodi the narrow winner, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was last night refusing to concede defeat in Italy's close-run general election, writes Paddy Agnew in Rome.
At a news conference, the prime minister confirmed he would concede defeat to his rival only after the recount of half a million spoiled votes, a recount called for by his centre-right coalition.
"We will acknowledge the [ centre-left] Union victory only after the recount. As of now, no one can claim to be the winner . . . Prodi should not have been seen [ on TV] celebrating last night," Mr Berlusconi said.
The recount of the half-million votes is likely to begin today.
The prime minister's statement prompted an indignant reply from Mr Prodi's Olive Tree group, which argued that the centre-left coalition was the "undisputed winner".
"It is very serious to insinuate that the outcome of the election has been falsified or manipulated," the group said.
"This shows a desire to subvert the real facts, namely that the centre-left is the undisputed winner of the election."
The prime minister's refusal to accept defeat gracefully was just the latest twist in a bitterly divisive electoral contest which concluded with a confusing all-night electoral count on Monday, marred by a series of contradictory exit polls and projections.
With a possible electoral stalemate and consequent constitutional crisis ahead, it was the very last votes counted, those from Italians living abroad, that finally swung it for Mr Prodi.
Five of the six senate seats elected by Italians abroad went to the centre-left late yesterday morning, giving Mr Prodi a senate majority of 159 to 156.
Thanks to the majority bonus system applicable in the chamber of deputies, Mr Prodi had already come out a comfortable winner in the lower house, with 348 seats as opposed to the 281 won by Mr Berlusconi's centre-right House of Freedom coalition.
The close-run nature of this electoral contest is well illustrated by the upper house senate vote, where Mr Prodi's centre-left forces won 49.8 per cent as opposed to the 49.7 per cent scored by Mr Berlusconi's coalition.
In the end, fewer than 25,000 votes separated the two coalitions.
Despite his narrow win and tiny senate majority, Mr Prodi was adamant yesterday that he can and will govern for the next five years, telling journalists: "Who win, wins, that's the great thing about a democracy . . . I can govern for five years even if I know it will not be easy."
Earlier, in an attempt to put the bitter, decisive tones of the election campaign behind him, Mr Prodi had said he would "govern for all Italians".
Despite Mr Prodi's optimism, his narrow majority in the senate inevitably increases concern about his ability to hold together his wide-ranging coalition of ex-Christian Democrats, ex-Communists, Radicals, Greens and Rifondazione Comunista.
He could face problems from his allies not just on economic reforms but also on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to the future of state education and the legal status of unmarried and gay couples.
Certainly, those concerns were reflected on the Milan stock market yesterday where the all-share MIB index was down 1.6 per cent.
Another complication is that the new Italian parliament, when it reconvenes, must choose a new state president to replace Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, whose mandate expires next month.
In all probability, it will only be after the election of the new president that Mr Prodi will receive his nomination as prime minister.
In the meantime, as he said himself yesterday, he can catch up on lost sleep.