Whatever will be the Supreme Court’s response after recounting the votes and regardless of how long will a likely Prodi’s government last, one thing is for sure: after 5 years of stable gov’t, Italy returns to political instability.

In the last 60 years, Italy had 55 governments in 50 years. Prodi’s last administration changed prime minister for 3 times in 5 years. This is because his coalition – made up with communists, greens, moderate christian democrats and ‘former’ anti-globalization street protestors (people who incited communist mobs to throw molotov cocktails at police and shops, now will sit at the parliament!) – is deeply fragmented and divided on many issues.

Today’s National Review has a must-read editorial: Those were disastrous election results.

Due to a disastrous proportional law approved by Berlusconi’s cabinet, today we have a likely prime minister that won only for a couple of votes from outside, while the center-right won more votes accross the country, Berlusconi’s party is again the first political party and retained majority in previously-lost regions.

Italy’s a divided country, although most analysts – including left-wing ones – wrote that the real winner (the moral winner) is Berlusconi, thought to lose big time to Prodi, which hasn’t happened. Most probably, the upcoming administrative and local elections ( which will be held on May) will be won by the center-right ( according to how most of the regions voted during last weekend’s election).

The wind is again right-wing. Nationwide, however, we have a deeply divided country. And that is very bad and I see a dark future unless we will have a stable government, that now is impossible.

Our american liberators should have taught democracy lessons to the Italians before leaving.

Political instability is the result of political immaturity in a country that – in some respects – has still a fascistic mentality ( statalism, bureaucracy and wide corruption of politicians from both sides).

UPDATE: Another good analysis by the Times : An insult to a smart nation.

UPDATE: Slate.com mentions my post here