Italian voters appeared less enthusiastic about politics as less people went to polls in the general election which ended Monday and sent media mogul Silvio Berlusconi to premiership for the third time.
Official figures from the Interior Ministry showed 80.5 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots for the lower house of the Italy's national parliament, or the Chamber of Deputies, and the turnout for the election of the Senate, the upper house, stood at 80.4 percent.
Both were lower than the 83.6 percent turnout registered two years ago.
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.
The general election was called after the government led by center-left Premier Romano Prodi collapsed in January, lasting only 20 months.
Italy has had 61 governments since the end of World War II. The only one that survived its full five-year term in the past half century is led by Berlusconi between 2001 and 2006.
Both Berlusconi and his main rival, former Rome mayor Walter Veltroni had devoted much of their campaigns to selling their plans to stimulate the sluggish economy, a major concern weighing heavily on most voters.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article