Italy's premier Silvio Berlusconi and his centre-left rival Romano Prodi wrapped up their general election campaigns with the prime minister calling his supporters an "army of freedom" and Mr Prodi appealing for unity.
Both leaders held final rallies in Italian plazas yesterday before thousands of cheering, flag-waving supporters.
"You are the real army of freedom," Mr Berlusconi told supporters in Naples. "We have the right to demand five more years to build the Italy we've always wanted."
Characterising tomorrow's election as a choice between two systems of values, he said: "Let's choose an Italy of rights, of tolerance, of respect of all, of wellbeing. Above all, an Italy that knows how to love."
He described an Italy run by the centre-left as a country "of taxes, of insults, of lies, of doors opened wide to illegal immigrants, of anti-globalisation (supporters) who burn the flags of friendly powers, who want to take the crucifix out of schools".
Speaking at the same time in a square in Rome, Mr Prodi appealed for unity.
"Mine is not only an appeal to go to the polls, but a call for the reconstruction of the country," said Mr Prodi, a former premier and EU chief. "Only together can we make it."
Thousands of people streamed into Rome's Piazza del Popolo for the centre-left rally.
Some waved rainbow peace flags; some used the cover of British magazine The Economist— which featured a picture of Berlusconi and the world "Basta" (Enough) — as a poster.
"We only make promises we know we can keep," Mr Prodi said.
The final days of campaigning were dominated by insults. In a speech on Tuesday to small business owners, one of his power bases, Mr Berlusconi shocked the nation by referring to those intending to vote for the opposition as "coglioni" — a vulgarism that roughly translates as morons.
He repeated it yesterday in Naples.
The candidates' last televised debate on Monday was remarkable for the insults the two tossed at each other. Both lead fractious coalitions of parties.
Mr Prodi's Union ranges from pro-Vatican moderates to Communists.
Mr Berlusconi's House of Freedoms coalition includes Christian Democrats, former neo-fascists and an anti-immigrant party.
Mr Berlusconi, a media tycoon, was elected in 2001 on high hopes that his knack for making money would translate into a business boom for Italy — but economic growth has ground to a halt and even business leaders are turning their backs on him.
He has conducted an aggressive campaign, trying to close the gap that opinion polls have shown between his conservative bloc and the opposition. A poll blackout entered into force late last month.
Earlier yesterday, he urged undecided moderate voters and Catholics to cast ballots and raised the possibility he might be defeated for the second time in as many days.
Both leaders have tried to draw in the undecided, estimated to be a double-digit percentage and a slice of the electorate that will be crucial in determining what is expected to be a close election.
Some 47 million Italians are eligible to vote in the balloting, as well as some 2.6 million Italians living abroad who can vote for the first time in a national election.
AP