Silvio Berlusconi, leader of right-wing party Forza Italia, waves as he arrives to vote on March 4, 2018 at a polling station in Milan. Italians vote today in one of the country’s most uncertain elections, with far-right and populist parties expected to make major gains and Silvio Berlusconi set to play a leading role.
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Voter polls in the months and weeks leading up to the vote had suggested that the center-right alliance of Silvio Berlusconi‘s Forza Italia and the right-wing Fratelli d’Italia and Lega, along with the smaller center-right Noi con L’Italia party, were the most popular coalition. The same polls showed, however, that the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) was the most popular single party.
The vote was being closely-watched in Europe to see if populist, anti-establishment parties such as M5S could take a governing position in the Italian parliament.
Following an election campaign that featured immigration as a hot topic, the vote was seen as test of strength for far-right parties, such as Fratelli d’Italia and Lega, that have campaigned on an anti-immigration stance.
The country’s fragile economy was also a feature in the run-up to the election with lackluster growth and an unemployment rate of 11.1 percent dominating the debate. On Friday, fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) showed the economy expanded by 0.3 percent from the previous quarter.
