Italy's parliamentary election results remain disputed

ROME -- Italy's center-left leader Romano Prodi said Wednesday he doesn't fear a reversal of parliamentary election results, insisting his narrow victory is safe despite Premier Silvio Berlusconi's demand for a recount.\nProdi emerged the winner of the hard-fought election, although his razor-thin margin has brought back the prospect of political instability in a country known for revolving-door governments. Berlusconi has refused to concede defeat, alleging voting irregularities.\n"I do not fear a reversal of the results," Prodi said in comments to the Foreign Press Association, a day after official results by the Interior Ministry gave him the win.\n"Our victory is safe," he said. "There's the possibility of governing for five years."\nProdi said he had begun talks on selecting a Cabinet, meeting with coalition parties earlier Wednesday. He did not say when the government might be assembled but played down the uncertainty caused by Berlusconi's demands.\n"I do not know what he's talking about," said Prodi. "Since he controls everything, he doesn't trust himself."\nIn Italy, it usually takes a few weeks to exhaust the procedures necessary for forming a government. In this case, the matter is further complicated because the mandate of the president of the republic, who must give the nod to a new premier, expires in mid-May. Current President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi has indicated he would leave the task to his successor.\nProdi again ruled out the possibility of a "grand coalition" between right and left proposed by Berlusconi.\n"A grand coalition is not only extraneous to our program, but it happens when no majority emerges from the elections," Prodi said. "In this case, a majority came out."\nThe election results still must be confirmed by Italy's highest court, and parliament's election committees also will have to rule on any ballot challenges.\nBerlusconi, making his first and so far only comments since the elections Sunday and Monday, insisted: "Nobody now can say they have won."\nOn Wednesday, several ballot boxes carrying the symbol of the Interior Ministry were found in a garbage can. The ANSA news agency said the ballots had been filled out and their results communicated to the Interior Ministry.\nIn the 315-member Senate, Prodi's coalition won 158 seats; the center-right 156, and one independent was elected.\nBerlusconi, referring to the vote of Italians abroad, which proved crucial in the Senate race, said, "there are many irregularities, and therefore it's possible that this is not a vote we can say is valid."\nProdi can count on a comfortable majority in the lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, despite the narrowest of winning margins -- 49.8 percent for his coalition compared to Berlusconi's 49.7 percent. Thanks to a new, fully proportional electoral system pushed through by the conservatives against the center-left's opposition, the winning coalition in the lower house gets at least 340 deputies, or 55 percent of seats, regardless of the size of its victory.\nWith a margin of about 25,000 over the 38 million votes cast, Berlusconi called for a recount.\nProdi, a former premier and European Union chief, claimed victory Tuesday while the vote count was still under way, drawing criticism from Berlusconi.\nWith a high voter turnout of about 84 percent, the election highlighted deep divisions in Italy, and analysts expressed uncertainty over the strength of a future government.\nBerlusconi is Italy's longest-serving premier since World War II, thanks to his five years in power. Despite a tumultuous tenure, the conservative media mogul brought some stability.\nEven if the result is confirmed, long-term prospects for Prodi look problematic -- his coalition is seen as unwieldy because it is built on two mainstream parties but also includes a mixed group ranging from Catholics to communists.\nProdi has played down the divisions within his bloc and vowed that his government would pass reforms needed to revive the country's zero-growth economy.