More political boost for Prodi, it seems, after the current Italian Prime Minister scored quite a victory in recent local elections, performing better that Silvio Berlusconi's allied parties.

According to preliminary results, Prodi's Union Coalition allies, Walter Veltroni, Sergio Chiamparino and Rosa Russo Jervolino, have become the new mayors of Rome, Turin and Naples, respectively, while Letizia Moratti was among the few members of Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, who managed to win an official seat, the town Hall of Milan.

This was the only city of the three Berlusconi lobbied for, alongside Rome and Turin, with candidates like Giovanni Alemanno, former Agriculture Minister, and Rocco Buttiglione, former Culture Minister, respectively, which actually proved its hometown allegiance to the former Italian Prime Minister.

These results have come unexpectedly for Berlusconi, who had conducted quite a negative publicity campaign for his rivalries, stating that this round of local elections would signal the beginning of the end for the newly elected, yet still controversial government, which officially assumed power less than two weeks ago.

Moreover, there are people, like the chief executive officer of polling company SWG Srl in Trieste, Italy, Maurizio Pessato, who state the fact that the more Prodi proves his political strength on this kind of opportunities, the more Berlusconi will have to deal with a weakening of his opposition.

A triumphant and confident Prodi stated yesterday that: "Except for Milan, the other cities, the most important ones, are in our hands. If this is their idea of a comeback, then fine, let's keep them coming". The last election stage will end on June 26th, when Italians are asked to come and take part in a national referendum regarding Berlusconi's constitutional reform.