Top Italian Court Confirms Prodi Win

A top Italian court on Wednesday confirmed the slim electoral victory of center-left leader Romano Prodi in the lower house of parliament, although Premier Silvio Berlusconi's conservative coalition was not conceding defeat.

The Court of Cassation said Prodi had won the lower house by a margin of some 24,000 votes against Premier Silvio Berlusconi's conservatives, a margin virtually unchanged from the one previously announced.

"Finally the electoral affair is over," Prodi told reporters. "Italians have no more doubts about our victory."

Thank to a majority bonus aimed at increasing governability, Prodi's coalition is assigned 55 percent of the seats in the lower house, regardless of the vote gap.

Berlusconi won the popular vote for the Senate, but Prodi gained a two-seat majority due to a complicated system of regional bonuses.

However, minutes after the court's announcement, a top Berlusconi ally said the conservative coalition was not conceding defeat.

The announcement "does not exhaust all the checks on the electoral results," Giulio Tremonti, the economy minister, was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.

There were some 2,100 ballots for the lower Chamber of Deputies that were not immediately included in the overall count as the voting intentions were not clear. In the Senate there were another 3,100 contested ballots.

The number of contested ballots in the Senate was not expected to change the picture, and preliminary reports by regional offices confirmed the outcome of the vote.

The number of contested ballots was reduced by the Interior Ministry last week, boosting the likelihood that Prodi's victory would stand.

Prodi won a razor-thin majority in the April 9-10 vote that brought some 40 million Italians to the polls.

The vote followed a bitter election campaign in which the two main contenders traded personal insults, CBS News' Sabina Castelfranco reported.

The Senate and lower chamber of parliament have equal powers, and any coalition would have to control both to form a government. Some center-left and center-right leaders had said that if neither side controls both houses, new elections should be called.

Berlusconi, a 69-year-old media mogul who is Italy's longest-serving premier since World War II, was battling to capture his third premiership with an often squabbling coalition of his Forza Italia party, the former neo-fascist National Alliance, pro-Vatican forces and the anti-immigrant Northern League.

The 66-year-old Prodi, a former premier and EU chief, was making his comeback bid with a potentially unwieldy coalition of moderate Christian Democrats, Greens, liberals, Communists and former Communists.

Italians during the election were mainly preoccupied with finances. Berlusconi, a billionaire businessman whose empire includes TV networks, insurance and real estate, failed to jump start a flat economy during his tenure, but promised to abolish a homeowner's property tax. Prodi said he would revive an inheritance tax abolished by Berlusconi, but only for the richest; he also promised to cut payroll taxes to try to spur hiring.

During his tenure, Berlusconi had strongly supported President Bush over Iraq despite fierce Italian opposition to the war. Prodi said he would bring troops home as soon as possible, security conditions permitting. But the issue was largely deflated before the campaign began when Berlusconi announced that Italy's troops there would be withdrawn by year's end.

During his tenure, Berlusconi had strongly supported President Bush over Iraq despite fierce Italian opposition to the war. Prodi said he would bring troops home as soon as possible, security conditions permitting. But the issue was largely deflated before the campaign began when Berlusconi announced that Italy's troops there would be withdrawn by year's end.