Thanks to extremely complex electoral laws and the ease with which alliances are created and broken, as is usual in Italy, all sides claim victory. However, there are some striking conclusions we can draw from the results.
On Sunday, 31 May, regional elections will be held in seven very sensitive regions in Italy. Though Renzi has been predicting a victory, the rise of eurosceptic parties in Italy and in Europe could have an unpredictable effect.
Italy has a recent history which tends to make it resistant to the very concept of “stability”, and the idea of a politically stable apparatus. This inevitably raises the spectre of a possible authoritarian drift.
Over a decade and a half ago Samuel P. Huntington’s book, “The Clash of Civilizations”, had made a considerable impact on western public opinion, soon to be downgraded, however, to an all-purpose catch-phrase, with the result that the message itself became confused and, to a certain extent, discre
The invading NATO forces, in an action allegedly aimed at the defeat of terrorism in a country which had no tradition of terrorist activities, appeared to act with no inkling of the lessons that could have been learned.
In Italy, the European elections are gaining importance because they could well constitute a watershed in the long and chequered political career of Silvio Berlusconi. Euro elections landscape, 2014.
Unlike Oliver Twist's friend, Berlusconi will not end up in a penal colony, or indeed in a prison cell, but will continue to be an uncomfortable presence in Italian political life. For how long?
After the seemingly unending crisis that followed this February's elections, Italian politics seem to have finally found some stability. And yet, recent events may be the sign of greater trouble to come.
When the only thing holding a coalition together is fear of the voters, instability is just around the corner.
The concept of a "grand coalition" in Italy is unlikely to work due to a history of distrust between the two main parties, and the emergence of Beppe Grillo's Five Stars Movement as a considerable political force.
More than a week after the elections, the situation in Italy is as hazy as ever, with no obvious way out of the political deadlock.
With no clear winner emerging out of the election, a new era of uncertainty opens for Italian politics. How can the country get out of the post-electoral impasse?
