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Majority of Italians Would Vote for Union
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The opposition centre-left Union (Unione) continues to lead in Italy, according to four recent voting intention polls. In a survey by SWG published in L'Espresso, 52.8 per cent of respondents say they will vote for the Union in next month's election to the Chamber of Deputies.
In a study by Ekma Ricerche Srl, 53.5 per cent of respondents would support the Union, under the leadership of former president of the European Commission Romano Prodi. A poll by TNS abacus has the Union at 51.5 per cent, with the governing centre-right House of Freedom (Casa)—which includes prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forwards Italy (Forza Italia)—at 48 per cent. A survey by IPR Marketing published in La Repubblica gives the centre-left coalition a five-point edge.
Italian voters are scheduled to renew their legislative branch on Apr. 9 and Apr. 10. Following a series of electoral reforms enacted last year, all the seats in the Chamber of Deputies will be allocated through proportional representation.
In October 2005, Prodi won a nationwide primary to become the Union's leader and candidate for prime minister. The group includes the Democrats of the Left (DS), Democracy and Liberty (La Margherita) and the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC).
Berlusconi has been in office since June 2001. The media mogul had previously served for less than eight months in 1994 and 1995. In the 2001 ballot, Berlusconi's centre-right coalition elected 368 lawmakers to the 630-seat Chamber of Deputies, the largest majority for an Italian government since World War II.
Last week, two Berlusconi allies criticized the prime minister's performance during a televised debate against Prodi held on Mar. 21. Pier Ferdinando Casini of the Union of Christian and Centre-Democrats (UDC) described the televised meeting as "a missed opportunity." National Alliance (AN) leader and deputy prime minister Gianfranco Fini declared, "(Berlusconi) gave the impression that all was well, as if he wanted to get top marks. That was excessive because many voters who are still undecided know that society still has many problems."
Polling Data
Voting Intention - Chamber of Deputies
SWG | Ekma | TNS | IPR | |
Union (Centre-Left) | 52.8% | 53.5% | 51.5% | 52.0% |
House of Freedom (Centre-Right) | 46.4% | 46.0% | 48.0% | 47.0% |
Other parties | 0.8% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1.0% |
Source: SWG / L'Espresso
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 Italian adults, conducted on Mar. 17, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
Source: Ekma Ricerche Srl
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 Italian adults, conducted on Mar. 20, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
Source: TNS abacus
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 Italian adults, conducted on Mar. 20, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
Source: IPR Marketing / La Repubblica
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 Italian adults, conducted on Mar. 21 and Mar. 22, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
