Berlusconi,ex-mayor battle in Italian election

Italians voted on Sunday in a parliamentary election that could bring conservative media
magnate Silvio Berlusconi back to power for the third time to
deal with a deep economic and social malaise.

The 71-year-old billionaire's main challenger is centre-left
leader Walter Veltroni, a former communist who portrays himself
as a man of change, although his campaign promises of modest tax
cuts and getting tough on crime are similar to Berlusconi's.

Many of Italy's 47 million voters were gloomy about the
prospects for economic recovery and political stability as they
close their 62nd government since World War Two, especially as
election laws make it hard for anyone to win a clear majority.

The centre-left coalition government led by Romano Prodi
lasted just 20 months before it collapsed in January with Italy
sliding towards economic recession.

"I don't care who wins. I just want a government that
lasts," said 54-year-old teacher Francesco Antonazzi, voting in
Rome on the first day of a two-day election. Voting ends at 3
p.m. tomorrow and the result could be clear a few hours later.

Berlusconi, the only man in 50 years to have served a full
five-year term as prime minister, was applauded as he swept past
voters in Milan, cast his ballot and kissed a three-year-old
boy. "Save us, Silvio," one voter shouted.

Veltroni, 52, low-key leader of the Democratic Party, waited
in a long queue in Rome until officials let him through to vote.

Berlusconi, one of Italy's richest men, led in opinion polls
but his campaign at times lacked the flamboyance that won him
power in 1994 and 2001, when he went on to serve the full term.

The usually smooth-talking leader also made several apparent
slips that could cost him votes, such as insulting soccer star
Francesco Totti for backing the centre left.

Italy's morale has been battered by the struggle to find a
buyer for loss-making airline Alitalia, a garbage crisis in
Naples and a health scare over mozzarella cheese.

The International Monetary Fund sees the European Union's
fourth largest economy growing at just 0.3 per cent this year and
it has the world's third highest debt pile in absolute terms.

Berlusconi and Veltroni both promised modest tax cuts to
spur consumption. But the winner's ability to deliver this will
be hampered by complex voting rules, introduced by Berlusconi,
that make it hard to win a clear majority in the upper house.

Rome builder Luciano di Pasquale, 55, voted for Berlusconi
because he believed the conservative leader was more likely to
improve employment and wages. "I don't like the way Prodi
governed and Veltroni is just more of the same," he said.

Ruggero Bianchi, 63, voted for Veltroni, who has the backing
of Hollywood's George Clooney. "I have faith in the Democratic
Party but I don't think the next government is going to last
more than the last one," Bianchi said in Rome.

A third of voters were expected to decide at the last minute
who to back. Many saw little difference between the platforms.