ROME (Reuters) – A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption left the euro zone’s third-largest economy facing a dangerous vacuum on Monday after an election in which no group won enough votes to form a government.

The result, in which anti-euro parties took more than 50 percent of the vote and a novice populist movement scored a stunning success, rocked global markets with fears of a new euro zone crisis.

ROME (Reuters) – A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption pushed the country towards deadlock after an election on Monday, with voting projections showing no coalition strong enough to form a government.

With more than two thirds of the vote counted, the projections suggested the centre left could have a slim lead in the race for the lower house of parliament.

ROME, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Projections from an early vote
count in Italy’s election on Monday showed Silvio Berlusconi’s
centre right slightly ahead in the Senate, a result that could
cause deep government instability if confirmed.

The projections on RAI, Sky, Mediaset and LA 7 television
stations were the reverse of earlier predictions from telephone
polls that showed the centre left taking a strong lead in both
houses of parliament.

ROME (Reuters) – The centre left is strongly leading in Italy’s election, 5-6 percentage points ahead of the centre right of former premier Silvio Berlusconi, according to two telephone polls of voters.

A poll for Sky television published after voting ended at 1400 GMT (9 a.m ET), showed the anti-establishment protest movement of Beppe Grillo taking third place.

ROME (Reuters) – The centre left is strongly leading in Italy’s election, 5-6 percentage points ahead of the centre right of former premier Silvio Berlusconi, according to two telephone polls of voters.

A poll for Sky television published after voting ended at 1400 GMT (9 a.m ET), showed the anti-establishment protest movement of Beppe Grillo taking third place.

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s election campaign drew to a close on Friday with the weak performance of outgoing premier Mario Monti key to a deeply uncertain and potentially unstable result.

Political leaders were holding their final rallies before a campaigning ban ahead of two days of voting on Sunday and Monday, and analysts said the result was too close to call.

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s election campaign drew to a close on Friday with the weak performance of outgoing premier Mario Monti key to a deeply uncertain and potentially unstable result.

Political leaders were holding their final rallies before a campaigning ban ahead of voting on Sunday and Monday, and analysts said the result was too close to call.

ROME (Reuters) – Billionaire showman Silvio Berlusconi has again astonished Italy with a storming comeback that has frayed nerves in European capitals and among investors, but the signs are his final gamble has failed.

The 76-year-old media magnate and four-times prime minister looked down and out for much of 2012 after a jeering crowd hounded him from office in November 2011 as Italy tottered towards a Greek-style debt crisis.

ROME (Reuters) – Silvio Berlusconi’s resurgence and the rise of a foul-mouthed populist comedian have thrown Italy’s weekend election wide open, with deep uncertainty over whether the poll can produce the strong government the country needs.

Italy, the euro zone’s third biggest economy, is deep in its longest recession for 20 years. Successive governments have failed to revive an economy stagnant for two decades.

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s politicians on Tuesday stepped up their campaigns in the last few days before next weekend’s election with the outcome deeply uncertain and up to a third of voters still up for grabs.

Opinion polls on party standings are banned in the last two weeks before the February 24-25 poll but one of Italy’s leading pollsters, Renato Mannheimer, said 27.7 percent of Italians were still undecided or could abstain.