ITALY:ON A mild, bright and sunny April day, many Italians decided that they had better things to do than vote in yesterday's general election.
Initial counts suggest that one of the many imponderables of these elections, namely abstention, could yet prove to be a factor in deciding whether the final victory goes to the "Great Communicator", centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi (71) or to "Mr Nice Guy", centre-left leader Walter Veltroni (52).
At midday, 16.35 per cent of the electorate had voted, as compared to 17.63 per cent at the same time at the last elections in 2006.
It may be that the good weather prompted many to opt for a day in the country or by the sea rather to vote. If that is the case, then those who missed out yesterday can recoup today when polling stations remain open until 3pm. Such an interpretation of the initial data, however, may prove hopelessly optimistic given the sense of alienation and disappointment expressed in recent times by many Italians, on both left and right.
Many feel frustrated with the current 2005 electoral law (proportional representation plus majority bonus), a law that seems perfectly designed to guarantee maximum instability.
That law is one of the main ingredients in what the New York Times calls "the theatre of the absurd" that is Italian politics, a theatre which this time has produced a contest between a "rock- and-roll loving baby boomer" and "a politician trying for the third time to rise from the ashes".
Throughout this campaign, Mr Veltroni has made a point of saying that he will be Silvio Berlusconi's age in 2027. In short he has played on the age factor.
At least one commentator in Rome daily La Repubblica pointed out yesterday that when Mr Berlusconi was first elected in 1994, François Mitterrand was president of France, John Major was prime minister of Britain, Felipe Gonzales ruled in Spain, Boris Yeltsin in Russia, Helmut Kohl in Germany and Bill Clinton in the US. They have all come and gone but Mr Berlusconi remains, a testimony to the failure of the Italian political class and system to renew itself, concludes La Repubblica.
Financial daily the Wall Street Journal drew attention to one of the great unmentionables of this campaign, namely Mr Berlusconi's many judicial problems.
In at least 10 different investigations (and sometimes trials) over the last 12 years, he has been accused of (but not convicted of) corruption, bribery of judges and tax inspectors, false accounting, money laundering, tax evasion and illegal party financing.
"How is it that he is still ahead in the opinion polls whilst in many other countries, his political career would be finished?" asked the WSJ.
Another anomaly much underlined by foreign commentators has been the lack of a head-to-head TV debate between the main candidates, one of the key moments in election campaigns in many Western democracies. In an Italian contest, in which perhaps 30 per cent of the electorate was undecided or indifferent on the eve of a vote, such a debate could have proved critical.
While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have debated in more than 20 such head-to-heads, Mr Berlusconi and Mr Veltroni have been denied the possibility because Italy's par condicio (equal treatment) electoral law argues that such a debate would be unfair to the other (certain to be beaten) candidates for prime minister.
In theory, it is a Berlusconi v Veltroni contest. In practice, both men will lose votes to aspiring "prime ministers" such as Pier Ferdinando Casini of the ex-Christian Democrat UDC and former communist Fausto Bertinotti of the Rainbow Left.
On top of that, Enrico Boselli of the Socialist Party, Daniela Santanche of hardline right-wing La Destra, journalist Giuliano Ferrara with his Anti-Abortion List, Trotskyist Marco Ferrando of the Communist Party of Workers and Liberal Party leader Stefano De Luca will all pick up votes which, in the end, may make the final result less than clear.
Given the complexity of the electoral law and given the possibility of a close-run contest, a definitive overall result may not emerge until late tonight or early tomorrow morning.