Prodi promises 'strong' govt after claiming victory
Centre-left challenger Romano Prodi claimed victory today over Premier Silvio Berlusconi in parliamentary elections, and said he would form a “strong” government even though the official vote count was not completed.
Prodi told a news conference that his government would be strong “politically and technically,” rebutting concerns about an apparent slim margin of victory.
The former European Union commissioner also said his government would put Europe at the centre of its policies.
“This is a profoundly European result, and as I said, Europe will be the centre of the policy of my government,” Prodi said, also promising “constructive relations with the United States.”
He made the comments after his centre-left coalition claimed it had won four of the outstanding six seats in the Senate, parliament’s upper chamber – an outcome which, if confirmed, would give it the necessary margin to declare victory.
The Interior Ministry, however, was still counting the Senate vote.
Berlusconi’s camp did not concede the election and called for a recount in the lower Chamber of Deputies, where final results gave Prodi’s coalition a razor-thin margin.
Prodi said he wasn’t concerned about the recount call and conceded his margin was thin. But he said previous governments had been weaker.
Final returns today showed Prodi winning the lower Chamber of Deputies by one tenth of a percentage point – 49.8 to 49.7 per cent. Under Italian electoral law, 55 per cent of seats are awarded to the overall winner regardless of the scale of victory, giving Prodi’s forces 340 seats in the 630-member lower house.
All eyes were on the Senate, however, which Prodi also needed to win to form a government.
The Senate outcome depended on votes cast by Italians living overseas, which were still being counted today.
Prodi’s coalition claimed at least four of the six seats, giving it the necessary margin for victory, but official results hadn’t been released.
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