Italy holds second day of parliamentary elections

Polls have opened in Italy for the second day of the parliamentary elections that are viewed as crucial for the country’s economic recovery.

The last day of the elections began on Monday, as polls showed that a center-left alliance led by Pier Luigi Bersani, who has vowed to maintain the reforms imposed by Italian Prime Minister Monti but at the same time do more to help growth, was in the lead.

Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right bloc is lagging with a few points behind Bersani. Berlusconi has vowed sweeping tax cuts and is critical of the policies of Monti’s government.

A centrist coalition led by Monti is also running, but his support has faded and he is predicted to trail far behind the main parties.

After the first polling day on Sunday, about 54 percent of voters had cast their ballots, a sharp fall from 62.5 percent in the 2008 elections.

For the eurozone, the stakes are high since the outcome of the elections in Italy will set the government’s commitment to austerity measures.

Italy started to experience recession after its economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2011 and by 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Europe plunged into financial crisis in early 2008. The worsening debt crisis has forced the EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures, triggering protests against spending cuts in many European countries.