The much anticipated Italian elections have resulted in an unpredicted deadlock that could lead to a hung parliament. After all of the domestic votes were counted, it came to light that Pier Luigi Bersani had gained more support than Silvio Berlusconi, however he failed to get a majority in the Senate.
In order to take power, control of both houses must be acquired. The centre-left leader, Pier Luigi Bersani, said, “it is clear to everyone that a very delicate situation is emerging for the country”.
The 2013 Italian election has come at a time when the country is experiencing a notable amount of unrest and severe austerity measures. Many people have lost faith in the Berlusconi government and they are unsure where else they should place their trust, and therefore their vote. A protest movement led by Italian comedian Beppe Grillo earned an impressive quarter of the vote. Grillo established his movement to voice his disgust against all other political parties and his party is made up of young and enthusiastic, yet inexperienced members.
In the next few days there could be a struggle amongst the leading parties to attempt to form some kind of coalition government. If this process fails to be successful then there could be a new election in as soon as two months.
Votes from outside of Italy are still to be collected which have the potential to sway the result. Regardless of who takes office in the end, it is clear they have a huge task ahead of them as Berlusconi has led the country into an economic catastrophe.
You have a good eye for the crisis points as far as countries are concerned. I lived in Italy during an election, and it took them months to figure out who was going to keep the lights on. They were on though, which points out that people keep going whether they have “leadership” or not.
Later…
One thing I don’t understand: How can Grillo lead a party when he is not eligible to hold office himself? Is his role just organizational?
The same way Mario Monti lead a party without being a candidate. And I’m afraid that it may be a myth that Grillo cannot hold office, but yes, it’s organizational and the movement uses his popularity to get their votes…ditto Monti. You can put a sacred cow on your party ballot and if the people will vote that party, the party chooses who will represent them eventually as Prime Minister, if they have the house and senate votes…the key word here is party (or movement) not candidate for president or prime minister.
Thank your for the clarification. Political structure is so different in each country!
Ah yes, and the situation is still pretty well blocked.