The centre left Unione (Union) coalition won the April 9/10 general election with a margin of 24,755 votes in the House, the Italian Supreme court said on Wednesday.
The alliance led by former European Commission President Romano Prodi won 19,002,598 votes while outgoing Premier Silvio Berlusconi's Casa delle Liberta (House of Liberties) coalition obtained 18,977,843 votes, the court said after controls on disputed ballots slips.
"The election is finally over. Italians no longer have any doubts about our victory. We must press ahead with our efforts to create a strong government," said Prodi at a news conference at his coalition's headquarters.
The Union's votes included 44,589 votes cast for the Lega per l'Autonomia Alleanza Lombarda Lega pensionata (League for the Autonomous Lombard Alliance of the Pensioner's League), the court said. In a bid to reverse the election result, the Northern
League party, had filed a plea with the Supreme Court contesting these votes.
According to former Reform Minister Roberto Calderoli, the Lombard Alliance's votes should not have been added to the Union's tally because the party ran only in Lombardy. But the Supreme Court ruled that the new electoral law approved by the Berlusconi government did not set specific guidelines on this issue.
"A party may run and be allied with a coalition even if it presents candidates in a single area," the court said.
Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti hinted that the centre right may continue to contest the centre-left's victory. Tremonti said the centre right could ask for further vetting of votes, saying that "major anomalies" needed checking.
These anomalies included the fact that the number of voters were more than the number of ballot slips and that the null votes cast for the House were far less than those for the Senate. But the UDC, a centrist Catholic-oriented party in Berlusconi's alliance, conceded defeat and congratulated Prodi.
