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Stalemate in Italy poll, hung parliament creates 'political gridlock'

Publish Date
Mon, 5 Mar 2018, 2:57PM
The Italy election delivered a hung parliament. (Photo/ iStock)
The Italy election delivered a hung parliament. (Photo/ iStock)

Stalemate in Italy poll, hung parliament creates 'political gridlock'

Publish Date
Mon, 5 Mar 2018, 2:57PM

Italian voters have delivered a hung parliament, flocking to anti-establishment and far-right parties in record numbers and casting the euro zone's third-largest economy into a political gridlock that could take months to clear.

If early projections are confirmed from Sunday's vote, none of Italy's three main blocs or groups can rule alone and there is little prospect of a return to mainstream government. Scenarios now include a more euro-sceptic coalition or an even return to the polls.

A rightist alliance emerged with the biggest bloc of votes, ahead of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which saw its support soar to become the largest single party, according to projections based on early vote-counting.

The ruling centre-left coalition came third, hurt by anger over growing poverty, high unemployment and mass immigration.

The full result is not due for many hours and previous elections in Italy have seen wild swings as the count proceeds.

A prolonged political stalemate could make heavily indebted Italy the focus of market concern in Europe, now that the threat of German instability has receded after the revival on Sunday of a grand coalition under Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The euro dipped in Asia early on Monday, with investors awaiting clearer results from Italy.

"Italy is far from having sorted its long-standing problems, and now it will have new ones. Be prepared for long and complex negotiations that will take months," said Lorenzo Codogno, a former chief economist at the Italian Treasury.

A centre-right alliance including former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (Go Italy!), was seen winning 37.3 percent in the upper house Senate, according to projections made by SWG pollsters based on early vote counts, short of the 40 percent analysts believe is needed for a working majority.

The 5-Star Movement was on track to win 32.3 percent of the vote, while the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) was projected to see its support collapse to 18.9 percent.

Within the rightist bloc, the League was put on 17.5 percent, 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.

During two months of election campaigning, party leaders repeatedly ruled out any post-election tie-ups with their rivals. However, Italy has a long history of finding a way out of the apparently intractable political stalemate.

The 5-Star once rejected talk of any power sharing, but it has since modified its position and says it is willing to discuss shared policies but not negotiate over cabinet posts.

"This is a real moment of glory," Alessandro Di Battista, a leading 5-Star figure, told reporters as the first results arrived.

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