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Italian PM Disputes Election Results

The Italian Prime Minister and billionaire media mogul, Silvio Berlusconi, is refusing to accept defeat in the general election held in his country recently. As judges continued counting contested ballots, center-left leader Romani Prodi reiterated his confidence in victory, while Mr. Berlusconi still refused to concede.

"The match is over," Prodi said. "Now let`s move on." Referring to the latest figures, Berlusconi described those numbers as "provisional." Italy`s Supreme Court, the "Corte di Cassazione", still has to approve the provisional result, but can only do so once the ongoing recount of disputed votes is complete.

In a letter to an Italian newspaper, Berlusconi said the results are not clear cut, adding that the country is facing a stalemate. However, the Interior Ministry said only 5,000 votes were being recounted, instead of 80,000 as was at first thought.