Italy's center-left led by former Rome mayor Walter Veltroni conceded defeat on Monday to two-time Premier Silvio Berlusconi in the general election.
"As is customary in all Western democracy, and as I feel it is right to do, I called the leader of the People of Freedom, Silvio Berlusconi, to acknowledge his victory and wish him good luck in his job," Veltroni told reporters.
Though the official results have not come out, a projection by state television RAI gave Berlusconi's center-right alliance a solid lead in both the Senate and the lower house of the national parliament.
It showed Berlusconi's People of Freedom party and its allies took 166 seats in the Senate, compared to 138 for Veltroni's Democratic Party and its partner, Italy of Values. In the lower house, or the Chamber of Deputies, Berlusconi took the lead with 45.9 percent of votes compared with Veltroni's 38.9 percent, a wider margin than initial exit polls.
Veltroni acknowledged the result has been clear, but he warned it would be difficult for Berlusconi's bloc to be united throughout the next five-year term.
Berlusconi joined hands with two small right-wing parties, the Northern League and the Movement for Autonomy. Both want to see powers devolved from the state to regions.
Italy wrapped up a two-day election earlier on Monday, in which voters cast their ballots to decide the new national parliament and who will govern their country in the next five years.
Of Italy's 58.2 million population, 47.3 million are eligible to vote for 630 member in the lower house and 43.2 million can 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, of which 71-year-old Berlusconi, who is seeking a third term, and 52-year-old central-leftist Veltroni were the two main contenders.
If the victory is confirmed, Berlusconi will take up his third time in office, but he has to face an imminent task of saving a sluggish economy from recession, 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 just 0.3 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, both Berlusconi and Veltroni made similar pledges like lowering taxes and cutting public spending.
Source:Xinhua
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