Italians appear to be evenly split along party lines in regards to the prospects of a second government headed by Romano Prodi and the possibility of early elections, according to a poll released Thursday (Feb 22).

The poll taken by the IPR Marketing group on a cross-section of1,000 Italian voters found that 35 percent wanted Prodi to remain as premier while 36 percent wanted new elections.

However, the results differed vastly when divided between supporters of the center right and the center left.

A similar situation surfaced in a poll conducted by the IPOS group, on a group of 800 voters, which found that 64 percent of Italians thought that Prodi was right to resign after the Senate defeat, while 31 percent thought he should remain in office.

In the center right, however, 90 percent said Prodi did well to resign compared to 39 percent in the center left, while only 9 percent of those in the center right though Prodi should stay, as opposed to 55 percent in the center left.

The vast majority of Italians, 70 percent, felt the Senate defeat was a sign that the government could not count on a majority, while 23 percent considered the defeat a parliamentary mishap.

Editor: Wing