Five months before an election that will be
crucial not just for this country but the whole euro zone, Italy is
mired in some of its greatest political uncertainty since World War Two.
Nobody
knows what electoral system will be used or who the candidates will be
in a parliamentary poll that will be marked by Italian voter anger over
the pain of austerity.
The
once-dominant party of billionaire media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi risks
disintegration while the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), likely
winner of the election, is torn by splits sharpened by a challenge to its leader Pier Luigi Bersani by the youthful mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi.
"All
election campaigns are marked by uncertainty but this time ... we do
not even know what electoral law will be used, who will be the party
leaders and what will be the coalitions," PD official Lapo Pistelli
said. "This is something totally new."
Foreign
governments and investors want to see a return by respected, unelected
technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti after the poll, but the road to
such an outcome is beset by big obstacles which are just as
unpredictable as everything else.
Corruption
scandals across Italy have fanned disgust with politicians and rocketed
the anti-establishment, anti-Europe 5-Star Movement led by
shaggy-haired Genoese comic Beppe Grillo into second place in opinion
polls.
Around half
of Italians are undecided about how to vote or say they will abstain in
the poll expected on April 7-8, thickening a fog of chronic confusion.
Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49622976
No comments:
Post a Comment