Italians appear to be evenly split along party lines in regards to the prospects of a second government headed by Romano Prodi and the possibility of early elections.
A poll taken by the IPR Marketing group on a cross-section of 1,000 Italian voters found that 35% wanted Prodi to remain as premier while 36% wanted new elections.
However, the results differed vastly when divided between supporters of the center right and the center left.
According to the poll, 73% of those in the center left wanted Prodi to stay , either with his current executive or a new one, while 67% of the voters in the center right wanted to go to the polls.
Only 19% of those interviewed said they wanted a new executive headed by someone other than Prodi.
A similar situation surfaced in a poll take by the IPOS group, on a group of 800 voters, which found that 64% of Italians thought that Prodi was right to resign after the Senate defeat, while 31% thought he should remain in office.
In the center right, however, 90% said Prodi did well to resign compared to 39% in the center left, while only 9% of those in the center right though Prodi should stay, as opposed to 55% in the center left.
The vast majority of Italians, 70%, felt the Senate defeat was a sign that the government could not count on a majority, while 23% considered the defeat a parliamentary mishap.
In the center right, 88% said the government could not rely on its majority, a view shared by 54% in the center left.
In regards to possible scenarios now that Prodi has resigned, 31% of those quizzed said Prodi to should stay on, even with a new executive, 40% wanted elections, 14% preferred a non-aligned interim government to prepare for new elections and 10% thought the current government to stay on long enough to revise the election law.
When asked which scenario they thought was more probable, 35% said that Prodi will stay in office, 22% expected his resignation to be accepted and new elections held, 19% were convinced a interim government would be formed to prepare elections. Another 12% thought Prodi's executive would remain long enough to change the election law and then call a vote.
If early elections are called, IPOS found that 20% of Italians thought the center left would win and 58% predicted a victory for the center right.
When grouped by political leanings, 44% in the center left said they would win, compared to 6% in the center right where 79% predicted a victory for the conservatives.
This latter forecast was shared by 41% of those in the center left.
In the event of early elections, 35% of those interviewed said they would vote for the center left, 40% for the center right and 5% for independent centrists parties like the UDC, while 22% were still undecided.
