http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=43bf9733b48d3c55Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's often-controversial rule came to an abrupt end Monday after a tumultuous five years in power.
Assuming exit polls are correct the center-left alliance leads with a margin of 4 to 5 percent.
The result of the two-day voting, Sunday and Monday, only began to emerge after the voting came to a close Monday afternoon. But earlier opinion polls favored former prime minister and European Commission president, Romano Prodi, the opposition leader.
Of greater concern to Italy's trans-Atlantic ally in this election is the fate of the Italian contingent currently serving in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition. Both candidates, Berlusconi and Prodi, have promised to pull Italian forces out of Iraq. Berlusconi, a close ally of President George W. Bush, with whom the Italian prime minister has established a close working relationship, is considered by the Bush administration as one of the United States' most loyal allies in Europe. Berlusconi was part of the "new Europe" Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld referred to when he took a shot at the old Europe (France, Germany) at the start of the Iraq war three years ago.
Nevertheless, Berlusconi said he would start bringing Italian troops home by the end of 2006. But this was said as part of a campaign promise, and, if re-elected, Berlusconi can always find justification to extend the Italian contingent's tour of duty in Iraq.
Romano Prodi has also promised to end Italy's participation in the U.S.-led coalition. But he has promised to do so immediately. A Prodi victory would mean a major change in the country's foreign policy, with Rome distancing itself from Washington in favor of a rapprochement with Brussels and European Union policies.
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Another Fascist goes down the tubes...
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