… Prodi claimed, yesterday night around three, in front of cheering crowds who had remained mesmerized on the piazzas before the open air screens, following the announcement of results as they came in, results that seemed to be leading nowhere and especially not to a victory of Unione. Not sure if his is the right conclusion to these absurd elections, but in any case: it seems that in the end Unione got some more votes. Some. And it is very clear whose votes these are: those of Italians outside of Italy, who were able to vote for the very first time. So basically the country is almost 50/50 divided between pro- and anti-Berlusconi (as Giulia reminded me that we should perhaps stop pretending that this election is about the left against the right), and the Italian diaspora decided that Berlusconi should go. The irony of it all is that Berlusconi changed the electoral system some months ago, driven by a power-crazed fear that he might lose. The decision to grant suffrage to Italians outside of the country was based on the stereotypical image that the diaspora would vote more right-wing. And again, perhaps there are more right-wing sympathies in the diaspora – who knows? clearly ideas about political tendencies within a diaspora seem to rely more on prejudices than on knowledge… – but in any case from outside of Italy it seemed more clear to every one that Berlusconi should go (I mean, that message was also on the cover of The Economist, hardly a bastion of left-wing thought…). Commentators on television ascribe a certain “pragmatism” to the diaspora, while the idea that Italians abroad deciced on the fate of the Berlusconi regime doesn’t cease to create amazement and perplexity…
Prodi spoke of the necessity of unity. Let’s see now whether or not la Casa will accept the results (remembering also that Berlusconi had called for UN inspection during the elections a week ago, much to the surprise of UN officials…). Che absurdo, questi elezioni.