Uncertainties dominate the vote in Italy

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In an atmosphere of big uncertainty, after a totally unusual electoral campaign, with many protagonists on totally different positions, the parliamentary elections started yesterday in Italy.47 million voters, plus three million abroad, are called to choose until today at 4.00 PM (Bucharest time) the new Parliament and the presidents of the three regions: Lombardy, Lazio and Molise. Despite the fact that the present electoral campaign took place over a rather short interval, and the winter weather only set another condition for the ballot, for Italians it is more than clear that they are in a delicate moment for the future of the country. Not few of them believe that the result of the vote will be influenced, not only by indecision, by those who will decide at the last moment, but also by the snow and rain that started hitting Italy in  Friday evening, which will undoubtedly limit the turnout. Totally unusual conditions for a country that has the habit of voting in March or April, when weather is much nicer. Besides undecided voters and weather, uncertainties about the outcome of the vote are mostly determined by political factors. The Grillo phenomenon, which was in the spotlight of politics during the last days of the electoral campaign that ended Friday evening, is the big unknown of the vote that decides over the duel between centre-left and centre-right, which characterised the political life of Italy for the last 20 years. And this is not only about percentages and places in the Parliament, but also about the way in which the results of Grillo’s ‘Five Star Movement’ (M5S) will influence the very delicate equilibriums for obtaining the majority in the two houses of the Parliament.How the Italy of tomorrow will look will probably be known Monday night, when it is supposed that much of the ballots will be already counted. One starts with the Senate and moves to the Chamber, while the count for regions will begin Tuesday afternoon. Then will come the moment of analyses, of the victory and defeats. Of course, under the attentive eye of the financial markets which probably, starting even Tuesday, will make known their own verdicts.