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Italians Hope for Positive Prodi Government
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Many adults in Italy believe their new administration will be successful, according to a poll by Ispo published in Corriere della Sera. 52 per cent of respondents think the government headed by Romano Prodi will perform well or very well.
Italian voters renewed the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate on Apr. 9 and Apr. 10. The Union (Unione) of centre-left parties, led by Prodi, secured 348 seats in the lower house and 158 seats in the upper house. The victory put an end to the government of the centre-right House of Freedom (Casa), headed by Silvio Berlusconi.
On May 16, Prodi was formally appointed as prime minister. The next day, his cabinet was sworn in at the presidential office. Prodi declared, "This will not be a conflictive team but one which can work together. It will last the entire legislature. I'm very satisfied." Prodi had previously served as head of government from May 1996 to October 1998.
In the new cabinet, former prime minister Massimo D'Alema serves as foreign minister, and former Central European Bank board member Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa is in charge of the finance portfolio.
Polling Data
How do you think the government headed by Romano Prodi will perform?
It will perform very well | 22% |
It will perform well | 30% |
It will be neither good, nor bad | 20% |
It will make more harm than good | 16% |
It will damage the country significantly | 12% |
Source: Ispo / Corriere della Sera
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 403 Italian adults, conducted in May 2006. Margin of error is 5 per cent.