Italian Elections

Yesterday, the second day of the Italian Elections wrapped up.

Before I get to the results, I wanted to give a little bit of background on the candidates and the process.

The election takes place over two days, and is a parliamentary system, where voters vote for a party rather than a candidate.  However, there are leading candidates who campaign for the party, and they are described below.

Pier Luigi Bersani was the favorite to win, according to the polls.  He is a member of the Democratic party.  However, in Italian politics, public opinion polling isn't allowed in the last two weeks before the election occurs.  So although he was leading, anything could happen in those two weeks and there would be no reflection in the polls.

Silvio Berlusconi is a member of "The People of Freedom" party, and is back from the political grave after facing a host of criminal allegations.

Beppe Grillo is a part of the Five Star Movement, and was seen as a not very serious candidate as he used to be a comedian, but gained traction when he ran anti-corruption anti-austerity campaign.

Mario Monti is a member of the Civic Choice party and was the incumbent Prime Minister, whose austerity measures were very unpopular in Italy.

In the end the results were mixed.  Bersani beat out Berlusconi by less than half a percentage point in the lower house of parliament.  In the Senate, Bersani once again won, but not by enough for a majority to pass legislation.  Berlusconi did better than expected, as did Grillo, as he received about 25 percent of the vote.  If a coalition with a majority is not formed, then the Italians could be headed back to the polls.

But in the end, an overwhelming majority of voters supported a platform to ease or eliminate the austerity cuts made by the incumbent Monti, which is not a good sign for the Euro zone.

To be honest, there hasn't been much buzz here about the election.  Most folks are more focused on the Pope's retirement than the election.

This Thursday is a big day in Rome!  Secretary of State John Kerry will be visiting on his first diplomatic trip (not sure when and exactly where, but I may try to see him at some point), and the Pope officially resigns at 8 P.M., and I'll be in St. Peter's Square for it.  Updates will be posted here!

JC