Italy's ruling centre right has criticised the nation's top daily newspaper for declaring its open support for the opposition in coming elections but said it was hardly surprised.
Corriere della Sera, which sells about 830,000 copies a day, carried an editorial by its director Paolo Mieli, who said he hoped the centre-left coalition led by Romano Prodi would win April 9 elections.
Several government ministers said the newspaper should have maintained an even-handed stance and some took issue with what they saw as an attempt by the daily to stir tensions within the centre-right alliance.
"I worked out some time ago that Corriere had a position. Today an editorial brought this into the open. It isn't necessarily a good thing for those who claim to be independent and equidistant," Communications Minister Mario Landolfi said.
Another minister, Carlo Giovanardi, said the paper had been guilty of "malicious headlines, disinformation and omissions" for a long time and should give up all claims to cover political news objectively.
Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini condemned Mieli for expressing the hope that Premier Silvio Berlusconi's party would lose support and Fini's rightist National Alliance would gain, along with the centrist UDC.
"It's a clear bid to sow discord in the centre right. But we're not taking the bait," he said.
According to Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, the newspaper's declaration could end up bringing votes to the centre right thanks to disenchanted readers who "thought the daily was an objective source."
Opposition leader Prodi praised the controversial editorial for talking about "concrete things", saying the piece was a sign of how much had changed over the last five years.
His allies spoke of the daily's "transparent position" and expressed solidarity with Mieli for the "brutal attacks from the Right"
The editorialist himself was unrepentant: "I wouldn't change anything in my editorial. I decided to be sincere and say what I think. Obviously our readers will be free to think for themselves and I don't think sales will drop at all".
