General election held today in Italy

In Italy, parliamentary elections are being held today, which could restore renowned political names, such as Silvio Berlusconi or Matteo Renzi, or bring new uncertainty.

Berlusconi, 81, returned to politics and led his party to the right-wing center Forza italia (Forward Italy). He is in a coalition with the leader of the right-wing and Eurosceptic League for the North of Matteo Salvini (44). But Mr Berlusconi, who has been  prime minister four times already, cannot hold a public office until 2019 due to a tax evasion conviction.
The leader of the Democratic Party, 43-year-old Renzi, returned to the political scene, and the strong challenge for the two parties is the leader of the Five Star Movement, Luigi di Mayo (31), who, if he won enough votes, could become the youngest European prime minister.

Main topics in the election campaign were migration, the role of Italy in Europe and the trade market.

According to analysts, the outcome of the elections is unpredictable due to the existing citizens’ satisfaction, the new electoral system and the large number of undecided voters. Elections are held after a new election system, which is a combination of a proportional system and a single-vote voting, the so-called FTPS system, according to which the candidate who wins the largest number of votes wins the election. Such a system will not allow the party or coalition that has won the largest number of votes to get additional seats in parliament.

The winner will need about 40 per cent of the votes to form a government or a smaller percentage if they win more seats under the FTPC voting system.

Accordingly, there are several scenarios – the victory of Italy and the Northern League, which, according to the predictions, would win 35 to 38 votes.

One possibility is the formation of a big coalition between Forward Italy and the Democratic Party, which was already discussed by Berlusconi and Renzi.

According to polls, none of these two parties will win enough votes to form a government on their own.

The election is for 630 members of the House of Commons and 315 for the Senate.