Berlusconi fares badly in local poll

Silvio Berlusconi's party has suffered sweeping losses in local elections while populist comedian Beppe Grillo made major gains as Italians voted against austerity and the establishment, analysts said. The preliminary results from the first round of partial local elections are already clear enough.

Silvio Berlusconi's party has suffered sweeping losses in local elections while populist comedian Beppe Grillo made major gains as Italians voted against austerity and the establishment, analysts said. The preliminary results from the first round of partial local elections are already clear enough.

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Berlusconi's People of Freedom party failed to reach the second round in several major towns and cities including Palermo in Sicily.

"This failure represents the end of an era in which the right had Berlusconi as its chief and managed one way or another to win elections," sociologist Antimo Farro said.