I've just posted a diary on the Italian regional elections over at
Booman Tribune if anyone is interested.
Here are some excerpts:
Romano Prodi put it this way, according to l'Unità:
The Italian people are asking us to prepare ourselves to govern the country.
And, according to Pier Fassino (DS):
The Union has won in an incontestible manner. Berlusconi's majority is no longer recognized by the majority of Italians.
The reation on the right? Francesco Storace, who before the vote mad this onimous prediction, "If we (the center-right) lose Lazio, Prodi will be the next Premier", described the defeat as "a hecatomb for us in all of Italy."
Here's a breakdown of the results in the most important regions (i.e. the regions that were undecided before the election):
Lazio:
Marazzo (center-left) 51.2%
Storace (center-right) 46.9%
Piemonte:
Bresso (center-left) 50.5%
Ghigo (center-right) 47.5%
Puglia:
Vendola (center-left) 51.2%
Fitto: (center-right) 47.9%
The center-right has won only in Lombardia e Veneto. To give you some idea of what this means: losing one of those two would be comparable to George W. Bush losing Texas.
I'm predicting anticipated elections or a vote-of-no-confidence by the end of the year.