Polls open in Italy, right-wing alliance seen winning

Gulf Today Report

Italians on Sunday began voting in a pivotal legislative election, the media witnessed, with the far right expected to lead the eurozone's third-largest economy for the first time since the Second World War.

Voters began queueing before polling centres opened at 0500 GMT, the media correspondents saw. The election will end at 2100 GMT when exit polls will give an indication of the final result.

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Polls opened on Sunday in an election that is forecast to return the country's most right-wing government since World War Two and also herald its first woman prime minister.

However, the complex calculations required by a hybrid proportional/first-past-the-post electoral law mean it may be many hours before a precise seat count is available.

A man drops a ballot into a box at a polling station during the snap election, in Rome, Italy, on Sunday. Reuters

A right-wing alliance led by Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party appeared on course for a clear victory when the last opinion polls were published two weeks ago.

But with a polls blackout in force in the two weeks before the election, there is still scope for a surprise.

There has been speculation that support for the left-leaning 5-Star Movement, the biggest party in 2018, has picked up in recent days.

A late surge by 5-Star could jeopardise the rightist alliance's chances of winning a majority in the Senate or upper house, complicating the process of forming a government.

Even if there is a clear cut result, the next government is unlikely to take office before late October, with the new parliament not meeting until Oct. 13.

A man prepares to vote at a polling station during the snap election, in Rome, Italy, on Sunday. Reuters

Meloni would be the obvious candidate for prime minister as leader of an alliance also featuring Matteo Salvini's League party and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.

That would cap a remarkable rise for Meloni, a 45-year-old from Rome whose party won only 4% of the vote in the last national election in 2018.

Italy's first autumn national election in over a century was triggered by party infighting that brought down Prime Minister Mario Draghi's broad national unity government in July.