Berlusconi’s Coalition Makes Gains in Italy Regional Vote

[citizen snips]

MILAN — Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right coalition made significant and unexpected gains Monday in regional elections that called some 40 million Italians to the polls, wresting four regions from the opposition.

The center-left, which governed 11 regions to the center-right’s 2 going into the race, maintained its hold on seven regions, but lost key votes in Piedmont and Lazio by a few percentage points.

The center-right consolidated its hold in Lombardy and in Veneto, which was won by a candidate with the federalist Northern League, one of Mr. Berlusconi’s allies. A Northern League candidate also won in Piedmont, and political commentators concurred that the party’s gains in those, and in other, traditionally left-leaning regions, could have a significant effect on the balance of power within the coalition — shifting its agenda towards fiscal federalism and devolution.

“Berlusconi did not lose, the electorate did not find an alternative,” said Marcello Sorgi, a political commentator for La Stampa, the Turin newspaper.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/world/europe/30italy.html