ITALY: AS IT comes down to the wire, Italy's general election contest is getting a bit heated. For most of this campaign the tone of the electoral debate has, by Italian standards, been restrained and dignified with much less of the personalised mud-slinging that has marked other campaigns.
On the eve of this weekend's vote, though, it would seem that old habits die hard. Silvio Berlusconi of the centre-right People of Freedom list (PDL), who is favourite in the polls to be the next prime minister, spent much of yesterday fending off criticism about remarks he made on Wednesday about state president Giorgio Napolitano. Discussing post-election appointments, Mr Berlusconi seemed to suggest that if he won, he might give the speaker position in one of the two chambers to his centre-left PD opponents, on condition that Mr Napolitano resign his post.
When criticised, Mr Berlusconi resorts to a familiar tactic: he had been misunderstood; he was talking only in terms of a "school thesis". President Napolitano had his fullest respect and long life to him, he concluded.
Walter Veltroni, leader of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) and Mr Berlusconi's main rival, claimed that such observations were of "the utmost gravity" and showed Mr Berlusconi was no statesman. Pier Ferdinando Casini, leader of the Union of the Centre (UDC), a party formerly allied to PDL but running on its own ticket this time, spoke of Mr Berlusconi's "institutional ignorance", calling his remarks "a gesture of total irresponsibility".
One of the salient features of this campaign has been the extent to which Mr Berlusconi and Mr Veltroni have spent much of their energy trying to dissuade voters from supporting their one-time but now discarded political allies.
These allies, however, have not taken it lying down. Daniela Santanchè, candidate for prime minister for an extreme right-wing splinter party, La Destra, yesterday accused Mr Berlusconi of offering money and positions to members of her party to keep them in his PDL list. On top of that, the handsome Ms Santanchè reported that Mr Berlusconi was "obsessed" with her but that she "wouldn't give it to him". It remains to be seen how many votes that observation will win for La Destra.
Mr Berlusconi, for his part, refocused his sights on Mr Veltroni, proclaiming the latter's alleged new world record, namely that of telling 43 lies in just one TV programme. Nor are Mr Veltroni's allies any better, he added. Former investigating magistrate, Antonio Di Pietro, leader of the Italy of Values (IDV) party which is supporting Mr Veltroni, is "the worst of the worst of the worst".
He also won applause from a crowd of flag-waving Italian women at an election rally when he urged them to cook for his party's candidates. "Cook for our party's representatives - and make the sustenance as sweet as possible," he said.
Given the complexity of Italy's much-criticised election system - a mix of proportional representation and majority top-ups - commentators find it difficult to predict this weekend's outcome, with many suggesting a much closer result than originally anticipated.
When elections were called in early February, in the wake of the January collapse of Romano Prodi's centre-left government, Mr Berlusconi was favourite with an estimated 15 point lead. Recent polls put that lead at five or six points, with many commentators predicting an unclear outcome, especially in the Senate.