Incumbent Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (R) and his mother cast their ballots at a polling station in Milan, April 9, 2006. (Xinhua photo)

    ROME, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Italians began voting for the two-day general elections at 8:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) Sunday morning.

    In the general elections, Italians will turn out to decide whether incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi or his leftist challenger Romano Prodi will be the next prime minister.

    Some 47 million Italians are eligible to vote in the elections, but it's hard to predict how many voters will cast their votes.

    Another 2.6 million Italians, living in four mega-constituencies, North America, Australia, Asia and Africa, are eligible to vote for the first time in Italian national elections.

 

Incumbent Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cast his ballot at a polling station in Milan, April 9, 2006. [Xinhua photo]

   According to the Foreign Ministry, about 42.07 percent of eligible Italian voters abroad ended ballots on Thursday. The results will be released after voting ends in Italy.

    A total of 315 senators and 630 deputies will also be elected, including six senators and 12 deputies to be elected by an electorate of the 2.6 million Italians living abroad.

    The elections, which will last until local time 10:00 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Sunday and continue on Monday from 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) to 3:00 p.m. (1300 GMT), were held in accordance with the new elections law passed by the Italian parliament last year.

    Analysts believe that due to the fact that dozens of parties were participating in the elections, none of them is likely to obtain the majority of the votes.

    Berlusconi and Prodi would vote at their own hometown Milan and Bologna respectively on Sunday.

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