As of 6.30 PM. Of the 13 regions in play, the center-right has 4 (Lombary, Veneto, Calabria and Campania) and the Center Left has 6 (Tuscany, Umbria, Emilia Romagna, Marche, Basilicata and Puglia). Three are still to close to call (Piedmont, Liguria, Lazio).
For now the governing Center-right coalition lead by Silvia Berlusconi has a guaranteed net gain of two regions. I predict that he will pick up one of the other three, for an overall net gain of three regions.
Both sides will declare victory. The center-left because last years European elections and polls just a few months ago had the experts predicting much bigger losses. The center-right because hey gained a few regions, most of them populous.
One of the sure winners appears to be the opposition centrist UDC party which chose to go alone or with both sides, based on local coalition evaluations. Partial data appears to show them either choosing the winning sides where they chose them, and maintaining or increasing their share of consensus most place they ran alone.
Joshua Lawrence
forwarditalia@tiscali.it
