But Signor Prodi said: “The game is over. And I’m glad. It’s time to recognise our victory so that this strange comedy can end and we can move on like we should.”

Signor Berlusconi refused to concede after the Centre Left won a razor-thin majority, demanding a check of “disputed” ballots. The Interior Ministry said that the number of ballots in question for the lower house was 2,131, not enough to overturn Signor Prodi’s 24,000-vote majority. The initial estimate was 43,028 disputed ballots. In a letter to Cor riere della Sera today, Signor Berlusconi criticised his rival for declaring victory and reiterated calls for a coalition between the Right and Left.

Signor Prodi has said that he has a mandate to govern on his own. His officials said that the next step would be official confirmation of the result by the Supreme Court. That is not expected to come before next week at the earliest. (Reuters)

Times Recommends

• 8,000 miles from Washington - Obama's grandmother
• Review: Oliver Stone's W.
• Zimbabwe chaos wipes out education