Italian General Election 2013: EU-appointed Mario Monti thrown out

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-25/first-italian-exit-polls-are-out

Italy throws EU-appointed Mario Monti out of office


http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02423/monti_2423900b.jpg
Former EU Commissioner Mario Monti replaced Silvio Berlisconi as Italian PM in 2011 without being elected into office


And here we go with the first Senate exit polls from RAI:

- BERSANI 36%-38%,
- BERLUSCONI 30%-32%
- GRILLO 17%-19%,
- MONTI 7%-9%

In other words, Berlusconi+Grillo may have a majority, yet due to the way the Senate seats are assigned, the current outcome may be sufficient for Bersani.

As a reminder, the Senate majority needs 158 seats for outright majority:

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/01/Senate%20Seats%20Italy_0.jpg

Strong gains by the anti/sceptical of the Euro side - Grillo is known to advocate wanting to leave the Euro currency and I know Berlusconi has hinted at the possibility before. To what extent Berlusconi means by that we don't really know.

At least they have taken Mario Monti down.

Thoughts?

[GommeInc]

Apparently this election is being watched closely across the Eurozone and indeed the Union. Italy will hopefully make the right choice, although it's amazing Berlusconi is in the running again. The fear is that there will be a coalition, and from what I saw on the news this afternoon is that they cannot agree on one - with bankers entering the scene due to fears over the sudden drop in the Italian markets :P The news was pretty poorly laid out.

[-:Undertaker:-]

This Grillo chap seems my type of leader, he's apparently refusing to join with the centre left and Monti at least, and i've seen nothing indicating he'll drift towards Berlusconi and his party. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/27/uk-italy-vote-idUKBRE91L0N920130227

I saw the German opposition leader apparently called Berlusconi and Grillo 'clowns' which has angered the Italians as they see it (rightly) as an attack on the two candidates who are rejecting the EU-enforced economic reforms.

Interesting times, I hope Grillo holds out though as Italy has been made into a mess by both establishment parties.

[GommeInc]

The EU shouldn't get too involved in the election process with Member States. It's insulting to be told who they think is right when the only people who know who is right for their country are the people of Italy. It's interesting this Grillo is sticking to his beliefs by not forming yet another dodgy coalition in the EU. It's bad enough we had two near opposites join together in this country - although the Lib Dems always have been the sort of party that has no real policies and should never be expected to enter politics.