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Berlusconi’s House of Freedom First in Italy
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The opposition alliance of centre-right parties is gaining ground in Italy, according to a poll by Ekma Ricerche Srl. 53.5 per cent of respondents would back the House of Freedom (Casa) in the next legislative election, up 4.1 points since October. The governing left-leaning Union (Unione) is second with 46 per cent.
Italian voters renewed the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in April 2006. The Union secured 348 seats in the lower house and 158 seats in the upper house. The victory put an end to a House of Freedom government, headed by Silvio Berlusconi.
In May 2006, Romano Prodi was formally appointed as prime minister. The Union leader had previously served as head of government from May 1996 to October 1998.
In December 2006, the Union of Christian and Centre-Democrats (UDC)—led by Pier Ferdinando Casini—left the House of Freedom. The party returned to the alliance last month. On Oct. 26, Berlusconi discussed his coalition’s renewed cooperation with the UDC, saying, "There are no disagreements within the House of Freedom, including Casini, concerning a post-Prodi scenario."
On Nov. 15, the Senate approved the Prodi government’s budget. Two days later, the prime minister discussed the future priorities of his administration, saying, "Now I can launch an appeal to the country and to all the parties. Let’s set about the (electoral) reforms, immediately, all together, to change what needs to be changed."
Polling Data
Voting Intention - Chamber of Deputies
|
Nov. 2007 |
Oct. 2007 |
Sept. 2007 |
|
|
House of Freedom (Centre-Right) Forwards Italy (Forza Italia) |
53.5% |
49.4% |
49.7% |
|
Union (Centre-Left) Democratic Party (PD) |
46.0% |
46.5% |
45.0% |
|
Other parties |
0.5% |
1.3% |
1.8% |
Source: Ekma Ricerche Srl
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 800 Italian adults, conducted on Nov. 9 to Nov. 11, 2007. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.