Reply #9: Italy Heads Toward Split in Parliament [View All]

[cal04]

Final results in the two-day vote ending Monday showed Romano Prodi's center-left winning control in the lower house of parliament, with 49.8 percent of the vote compared to 49.7 won by Berlusconi's conservatives. The winning coalition is automatically awarded 55 percent of the seats, according to a new electoral law.

According to the results, Berlusconi's conservative held a one-seat lead in the Senate, although six seats elected abroad were still to be counted. "We have won, and now we have to start working to implement our program and unify the country," said a jubilant Prodi, speaking to his supporters.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/italy_election

The New Electoral laws
Background: Italy's new electoral law -- "proportional system"
More than 47 million Italians go to the polling stations in the country on April 9 and 10 under a new electoral law, which has returned Italy to an entirely proportional system after a break of 13 years. The law, which was definitively approved last December, allocates parliamentary seats to parties in accordance with their share of the votes.
According to the law, voters cannot choose candidates. They simply put a cross on the symbol of a party. Each symbol is associated with a list of candidates drawn up by party leaders. The more votes a party gets, the more candidates get seats.

In the event of a narrow victory on a national level, a packet of extra seats will go to the winning coalition in a bid to ensure "governability." In this way, a ruling coalition will be guaranteed 340 seats in the 630-seat Lower House and 170 seats in the 315-seat Senate. The reform provides for a number of thresholds, under which parties and coalitions cannot be represented in parliament. If parties belong to a coalition, they need to win at least 2 percent of the national vote in order to have representation in the Lower House. Those standing alone will have to get 4 percent. Meanwhile, coalitions must win at least 10 percent to be represented. There are three similar thresholds for the Senate but the percentages are different: 3 percent for parties belonging to a coalition, 8 percent for those standing alone, 20 percent for coalitions.

http://english.people.com.cn/200604/10/eng20060410_257138.html