Two-time premier Silvio Berlusconi took a narrow lead in Italy's general election, exit polls released on Monday showed.
The poll for Sky TV put Berlusconi two percentage points ahead of his main rival, former Rome mayor Walter Veltroni, in the lower house of parliament and three points in the Senate, the upper house.
In the lower house, or Chamber of Deputies, the Berlusconi-led center-right coalition won 42 percent of votes, compared with 40 percent for Veltroni, the central-left leader. In the Senate, Berlusconi took the lead with 42.5 percent of votes compared with Veltroni's 39.5 percent.
A second poll for state TV also showed Berlusconi was slightly ahead in the elections for both houses of the national parliament.
The preliminary results, which have a margin of error of two percentage points, were released immediately after polling stations across the country closed at 3:00 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) Monday in a two-day voting.
A more reliable projection by state TV RAI, based on initial results, gave Berlusconi's bloc 43.7 percent of votes in the Senate against 39.1 percent for center-left leader Walter Veltroni.
Latest opinion polls two weeks ago had given Berlusconi five to nine percentage points ahead of Veltroni. Official results were expected later Monday or Tuesday.
Of Italy's 58.2 million population, 47.3 million were eligible to vote for 630 member in the lower house and 43.2 million could vote for 315 elected members in the Senate.
Under Italy's electoral system, voters cannot choose each parliamentarian candidate, but select from lists headed by 32 hopefuls for prime minister.
Seventy-one-year-old conservative Berlusconi, who is seeking a third term, and 52-year-old central-leftist Veltroni were regarded as the two main contenders. A tight race had been predicted.
Both Berlusconi and Veltroni had devoted much of their campaigns to selling their plans to stimulate the sluggish economy, a major concern weighing heavily on most voters.
The Italian economic growth has been under potential in recent years. In 2007, it was 1.5 percent, far below the eurozone average of 2.7 percent.
The 2.4-trillion-U.S. dollar economy was projected to grow just0.3 percent this year, according to a forecast by the International Monetary Fund earlier this month, the slowest among the more than two dozen "advanced economies."
To save the stumbling economy, the two main contenders made similar pledges like lowering taxes and cutting public spending.
The general election was called after the government led by center-left Premier Romano Prodi collapsed in January, lasting only 20 months.
Italy has been in years of political instability, with 61 governments in place since the end of World War II. The only government that survived its full five-year term in the past half century was led by Berlusconi between 2001 and 2006.
Analysts said though Berlusconi's lead in the popular vote can be translated into a majority in the lower house, there was still possibility that Veltroni's central-left bloc may control the Senate, where seats are divided up on a regional rather than national basis.
Many voters remained undecided until the last minute they cast their ballots. Analysts had been expecting a poorer turnout than before, arguing Italian voters have been fed up with politics in face of a sluggish economy and years of political instability.
"I hope the new ruling party can fulfill their commitments and take concrete actions to reduce tax, add jobs and promote economic growth," a company manager, who declined to be named, said after he voted Sunday.
Source:Xinhua
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