Monday, May 30, 2011
Projections show Berlusconi losing local polls
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi casts his ballot at a polling station.
The first projections after polls closed in Italian local elections showed Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition behind in the financial capital Milan and lagging badly in the southern port of Naples.
Projections released on Italy's RAI television network showed the leftist candidate in Milan Giuliano Pisapia with 52 percent of the vote against 48 percent for centre-right mayor Letizia Moratti.
In Naples, Luigi De Magistris, of the Italy of Values party, was on 59 percent, well ahead of the centre-right candidate Mario Lettieri.
Around 6 million Italians were eligible to vote in contests in 90 towns and six provinces, but the focus is on the main battlegrounds in Milan and Naples, where defeat would deliver a stinging blow to Berlusconi's fragile centre-right coalition.
Projections released on Italy's RAI television network showed the leftist candidate in Milan Giuliano Pisapia with 52 percent of the vote against 48 percent for centre-right mayor Letizia Moratti.
In Naples, Luigi De Magistris, of the Italy of Values party, was on 59 percent, well ahead of the centre-right candidate Mario Lettieri.
Around 6 million Italians were eligible to vote in contests in 90 towns and six provinces, but the focus is on the main battlegrounds in Milan and Naples, where defeat would deliver a stinging blow to Berlusconi's fragile centre-right coalition.
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