Italy gears up for election

Silvi Berlusconi feels the heat on the campaign trail

ROME, Italy -- Italian politicians are gearing up for a final week of campaigning before the country's May 13 general election.

As voting day approaches, Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right House of Liberties coalition is maintaining a clear lead in opinion polls over Francesco Rutelli's centre-left Olive Tree Alliance.

Smaller parties headed by former anti-corruption prosecutor Antonio di Pietro, former European Commissioner Emma Bonino and ex-union leader Sergio D'Antoni are lagging well behind these two main blocs.

Berlusconi's party published its manifesto on Monday, promising tax cuts, more jobs and stronger economic growth.

The 85-page document included pledges to lighten Italy's tax burden by 70 trillion lire ($32 billion) and create 1.5 million jobs over five years.

Further proposals included abolishing some taxes -- on inheritance and donations -- while cutting tax on incomes below 200 million lire ($92,200) to 23 percent and the rate above 200 million lire to a standard 33 percent, privatising state assets and tackling pension reform.

Rutelli's party published its election pledges in April, promising broadly similar goals, including tax cuts, tougher law and order and institutional reform.

The campaign so far has been a fractious affair, with politicians from all sides launching scathing personal attacks on their opponents.

Berlusconi, 65, set the tone on Saturday with a speech in Gallipoli, southern Italy, in which he launched a vitriolic attack on former prime minister Massimo D'Alema, chairman of the largest centre-left party The Democrats of the Left.

"We can expect anything from those who'll do anything to cling on to power … After his defeat he (D'Alema) will be looking for work, something he has never done in his life."

Despite a plea for moderation from Italy's head of state President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who served as treasury minister under D'Alema, the last week of campaigning looks set to continue in the same heated vein.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again," he told Italian television. "In a healthy democracy, one cannot ignore real respect one for the other, between government and opposition, at any time or at any stage in political life."

Justice Minister Piero Fassino, who will become deputy prime minister if the centre left wins, said it was no accident that Ciampi had issued a fresh plea hours after Berlusconi spoke.

"Berlusconi launched a highly personal attack on D'Alema...not only showing his rudeness but his lack of respect for his political rivals," Fassino said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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