Berlusconi still won't concede to Prodi
April 21, 2006 Edition 1
Rome: Premier Silvio Berlusconi is hanging tough, refusing to concede defeat to his opponent, Romano Prodi, in Italy's elections even as a top court confirmed the centre-left coalition's majority in parliament's lower house.
Prodi, meanwhile, was working to form his cabinet, holding daily talks with allies.
The former premier and EU chief has said there are no more doubts about his victory, and yesterday described the centre-right's refusal to concede as sad.
"Sooner or later they will recognise how things are," Prodi said. "It is very sad that there should be something like this in a mature democracy."
Berlusconi has not made any public comments since the court's announcement on Wednesday that Prodi had won the lower house by 24 755 votes - a margin virtually unchanged from the one previously announced.
But Italian newspapers yesterday said the premier remained as combative as ever. "We'll fight. They'll have to deal with us," he was quoted as saying in La Repubblica, a left-leaning daily.
Under Italian law, after the review of contested ballots, any further challenges or complaints are dealt with by the electoral committees set up by the new parliament after it convenes. Such checks can take months and are not expected to stall the political process.
At least some of the premier's allies strayed from his position. The leader of a small centrist party in the conservative coalition, Lorenzo Cesa, offered his best wishes to Prodi, while a cabinet minister, Stefania Prestigiacomo, urged her fellow conservatives to recognise the centre-left's victory. - Sapa-AP
