Italy won't elect populist or anti-EU regime: Gentiloni

Berlin, Feb 16 (IANS/AKI) Italy's national election on March 4 will produce a stable government that will not be "dominated by populist or anti-European forces", Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Friday.

"One thing is certain, Italy will have a government that I believe will be stable, I don't think there is any danger there will be a government dominated by populist or anti-European forces," he said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel here.

None of the main Italian parties or blocs are likely to win an absolute parliamentary majority, according to a final batch of opinion polls published on Friday.

 

Conservative former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's center-right bloc has a clear lead at around 35 percent, followed by the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement at just under 30 percent, with Gentiloni's ruling centre-left Democratic Party on around 28 percent according to the surveys.

However Gentiloni was the most popular among all the party leaders, favoured by 47 percent of Italians, according to a poll by Ipsos for Corriere della Sera newspaper.

--IANS/AKI

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