Italy votes! Again!

Italians queued yesterday and today to vote in the country's latest general election, which will decide Italy's parliament and prime minister. The new government will be the country's 62nd in 63 years. To save time, voters are permitted to vote for the next three governments all in one go, which will cover the period up to May 2011. Election officials claimed that the move would bring much-needed political stability, and allow Italy's 158 political parties to plan their vote-buying in advance. The centre-left candidate and former mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, said today he was confident of victory, although opinion polls put his challenger, Silvio Berlusconi, ahead. Berlusconi, former prime minister, leader of the centre-right coalition and Italy's richest buffoon, responded by lighting one of his own farts.