ROME, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's center-right coalition sought on Thursday to tone down allegations of vote rigging which the premier claimed had robbed him of victory, according to Italian news Agency ANSA.

    Minister for Relations with Parliament Carlo Giovanardi, a member of the centrist Catholic UDC party, said that "no-one has ever talked about fraud".

    Denis Verdini, who is in charge of the electoral office of the premier's Forza Italia party, said that "we're not talking about fraud - we have always and only talked about routine errors."

    Meanwhile, opposition chief Romano Prodi, who has claimed election victory, said that "there's nothing to worry about ... A bit of patience is required, that's all."

    The April 9 and 10 election was the closest in modern Italy history. Prodi's center-left alliance squeaked past the center right winning a majority of two seats in the Senate and 49.8 percent in the Lower House compared to the center right's 49.73 percent, a margin of just 25,000 votes out of 38.1 million cast.

    Berlusconi subsequently challenged Prodi's win and is demanding checks on spoilt and disputed voting slips and even a possible recount. He has also talked about "irregularities" in the vote of Italians resident abroad, which unexpectedly snatched away Berlusconi's apparent victory in the Senate.

    On Wednesday evening, the premier emerged from talks with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi to say that "the outcome must and will change because there has been widespread fraud in different parts of Italy - across the whole of Italy."

    An examination is already under way of officially disputed slips, which amount to 39,822 for the Senate and 43,028 for the Lower House, according to Interior Ministry figures.

    This review is scheduled to be completed by Thursday evening.

    But Berlusconi said he wanted to check the records of 60,000 polling stations "one by one". He suggested he would also seek a review of the 1.1 million ballot slips that were declared void in the election in which turnout hit 83.6 percent.

    Only officially disputed slips can be re-examined under Italian law. But the Italian press reported that Berlusconi wanted to pass a special decree authorizing the review of the void slips as well.

    But later on Wednesday, Berlusconi also sought to tone down his allegations, saying that he was only seeking "a thorough examination aimed at uncovering any possible mistakes or irregularities."

    A key ally, UDC chief Lorenzo Cesa, said on Thursday he did not think the disputed ballot slip review would hand victory to his coalition.

    "Ballot slip reviews are normal but I don't think it will change the outcome," Cesa said.

    Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu, whose ministry's website currently stresses that the election results are "provisional and not official", refused to comment on the premier's accusations.

    The opposition centrist Daisy party criticized Pisanu, saying on Thursday that "he should be offering words of clarity but instead he's showing himself to be more loyal to his leader than his institutional role."

    On Thursday, Prodi continued his work on putting together a government, which he has said will take office in May and probably be sworn in by Ciampi's successor.

    Under the Italian constitution, it is the president's job to formally appoint a new government. Ciampi's term ends on May 18 and the 85 year-old president has made it clear that he wants his successor - who will be chosen by the parliament in voting on May 12 and 13 - to name the new premier. Enditem