Rome - Voters in Italy will cast ballots in parliamentary and local elections on May 13th, the government announced yesterday.
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi paved the way for the announcement by dissolving both houses of parliament late on Thursday. Italy's 13th legislature was only the sixth in its post-war history to have run for a full five-year term.
The election will pit a center-left bloc under Mr Francesco Rutelli, the 46year-old former mayor of Rome, against a conservative grouping under media mogul Mr Silvio Berlusconi (64).