If comments pro Mr. Berlusconi were really true then I really have to say that Italy deserves to be governend by him. There cannot even be a comparison between Mr. Veltroni and Mr. Berlusconi.

What a shame for my own country!

Carmine, Liverpool, UK

Whoever lives in Naples andf votes PD after what they have done to Campania must simply be insane!

Matt, Napoli, Italy

Most of the comments to this article prove how information is biased in Italy... not in UK !
I even suspect that these comments are fake, since they appeared together and they all reuse the same arguments of Berlusconi's propaganda. This wouldn't be surprising

Ale, Napoli,

Mel, you're wright: During the 5 years Berlusconi was Prime minister, italy has made so much progress! People has had a great evolution in their everyday life, and the economy has become so strong!!!!! All the world admired this economical "boom"...,, the hontesty of the governement, the culture and intelligence of its members: the whole world wanted to live in italy!! Too bad that only 18 monthes of "comunism" destroyed all these progresses.....Fortunately, the new duce will bring back the progress in this country! God bless Silvio (please, do come back and live in italy once Berlusconi comes back! He waits for you!. Personaly, I will move from italy,so there is room enough).

EMY, Rome, italy

The Italians are so gullible. Have they never though that maybe newspapers like the Times prefer Veltroni because it is in the interests of countries like the UK that Italy remains in its current staus quo?

Frank, Leicester, UK

If Marco Cerrano beleives in a free press then he must live on another planet! Firstly, the worst offenders for bias reporting comes from RAI televison who are openly against anybody of the rights and do not even employee poeple who dont profess to the marxist way! Watching RAI3 is like a scene out of 1984!
Secondly, all nations have papers that have an open political view and are never impartial! So much so, that it is reported that Tony Blair used to discuss his ideas with Rupert Murdoch before making them public just in case the media mogal didnt like them and punished him through the media!
I hope BErlusconi wins as it is the only way to rid the nation of communism and its cynicism that prevents entrepreneurs like Berlusconi from developing wealth in countries like Italy because they are seen as enemies of the state. This is the opposite to people like Richard Branson in the UK, who is seen as a role model!

Mel, London, UK

Zaffiro, you are the tipical Berlusconi's elector. in the other countries there is a free press, not controlled by your hero. they see italy from another point of view, thus you should listen to their opinions. how can you expect them to be equilibrate? they are nothing but objective. open your eyes. you are likely to discover who Berlusconi really is. you wrote you are from palermo: how can you vote for a man who judges Mangano, a killer an a member of the mafia( who has lived in berlusconi's hause for two years or more), a hero? for a person who defends and candidates Dell'Utri, convicted for mafia?
Mr Richard Owen, I totally agree with your analysis. However I'm sure Mr Veltoni will never govern with the far Left, after the experience of Mr Prodi.

Marco Cerrano, Asti, Italy

Your article is, once again, an attack against Mr Berlusconi and . therefore, against the vast part of Italian voters that support him (they are tens of millions!) I think your articles should be more equilibrate. But It is a vain hope!

Zaffiro, Palermo,

I don't agree with Mr. Pietro's view on how Alitalia has been managed and on exclusive responsibility to Prodi's government.
Alitalia's problems have started long before Prodi's last mandate and Berlusconi previous mandates have contributed heavily to its fall.
Personally, I believe Berlusconi is one of the sleekiest persons I have ever seen and prefer to vote Veltroni as the best option out of 2 poor options.

Francesca, Milan, Italy

One of the biggest problems in Italy today is the garbage problem of Naples.600,000 tons of garbage to be cleaned up
which the Government of Romano Prodi failed to do.
The streets are lined with Rubbish.
Tourism in Naples is pratically zero,unemployment high.
Who ever solves this problem and the countries zero growth rate,will stay in power for years to come.

David Nigel Braham, Milan, Italy

The Prodi government cannot even produce ballot papers without making a mess of things, so what hope is there that they could ever sort out the rest of the nations woes?
Bossi is right to air his frustrations at their incompetency after the way they have mishandled the Alitalia affair!

Pietro, London, UK

As usual, The Times openly supports anyone who is against Mr. Berlusconi cunningly omitting that the protest against the voting papers also came from Mr. Veltroni's allies and that the misdeeds by several untouchable Italian magistrates date back decades and are so appalling that a mental health check would be the least one can think of. But for the international reader not versed in Italian matters it would be appropriate to mention that the "young" 52-year-old Mr Veltroni is a communist-bred appartinik politically active since his youth with zero training in economics or any other salient science requested to run a country and zero practical experience in whatsoever non-political activity. 71-year-old Berlusconi is de visu a younger and more brilliant personality who has been in politics since 1994, embodies the self-made man, is witty, practical and with only one flaw: the ambition to run a country which so far has been the playing ground of the the most undecent Left.

U.M. Boggio, Lugano, Switzerland

Another bias article against Berlusconi and pro-Veltroni. This article does not represrent the relaity and does a disservice to its readers.
Veltroni, is anothe rof the old guard, who already has a pension after being in politics for 40 years. He is proposing a government using the same ministers that were in the last Prodi government that failed so miserably and was so unpopular.
Her offers no concrete ideas, and is not at all progressive. He offers the Itlaians the same stale ideas form the same old stale politicans. He doesnt even propose one woman minister!
He says he will fight the mafia? His party has been in control of Campania for the last 20 years according to the Corriere della sera. There are over 78 clans and 3000 more associates. There have been 646 camorra related murders in 20 years and 30% of the population have criminal records!

Matt, Napoli, Italy

So is that article inferring that Obama is not that good after all?

Teresa, Rome, Italy

The problem with Italian politics is that it is always the same old faces doing the rounds, complete with the same worn out ideas that have proven not to work. Veltroni may be 52, but he has been around for years. He even gets a political pension!
Italy needs fresh blood and the flushing out of all those left wing politicians such as D'Alema, Fassino and Veltroni himself who continue to milk the system for personal gain!

Veltroni initially promised that he would stand alone without forming any coalitions. However, that was a lie, as he has slowly joined forces with other parties such as DiPietro (another politican who has been in politics too long). His promises to the public have also become more absurd such as €500 for every family, which would be impossible for an ITaly with zero growth and an already bulging deficit.

Sara, Campania, Italy

Veltroni, 52, is young by Italian political standard as you say but young by age not by years of activity in politics as he started at 18 and has therefore been on the saddle for 34 years. Position is just the opposite for Berlusconi who enrered politics in 1994 therefore only 14 years ago. One more comment is that is true that Prodi has beaten Berlusconi twice but in both cases his governement lasted only two years. Berlusconi has been the only Premier remained in charge for the 5 years full time in the 63 years of Italian democracy. Let's wait and see what happens this time.

Roberto Castellano, Salsomaggiore, Italy