(01/17/10) -

Berlusconis Italian Right Retains Solid Support

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Italy’s governing coalition of conservative parties has maintained a stable level of public support, according to a poll by Digis. 51 per cent of respondents would vote for the Italian People of Freedom Party (PdL), the Northern League (LN), The Autonomy (MPA-Pensioners-Alliance of Centre), and The Right in the next legislative election.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Italy’s governing coalition of conservative parties has maintained a stable level of public support, according to a poll by Digis. 51 per cent of respondents would vote for the Italian People of Freedom Party (PdL), the Northern League (LN), The Autonomy (MPA-Pensioners-Alliance of Centre), and The Right in the next legislative election.

The opposition centre-left alliance comprising the Democratic Party (PD) and Italy of Values (Lista di Pietro) is second with 36 per cent. Support is much lower for the Union of the Centre, the Left Refoundation (RpS), Left and Freedom (SeL), and the Radicals (R).

Italian voters renewed the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in April 2008. Final results gave Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing coalition 344 seats in the lower house, and 174 seats in the upper house. The victory put an end to the government of the centre-left Union (Unione), headed by Romano Prodi.

Berlusconi was sworn in as the country’s new head of government in May 2008. He had previously served as prime minister from May 1994 to January 1995, and from June 2001 to May 2006.

On Jan. 13, Berlusconi put down rumours that he was working on a plan to reduce the income tax, saying, "In this situation it is out of the question that we can talk about cutting taxes."

Polling Data

If a new election to the Chamber of Deputies took place, which party would you vote for?

Source: Digis
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 Italian adults, conducted on Jan. 8 to Jan. 9, 2010. No margin of error was provided.