Italy’s Bersani Wins Primary Round in Bid to Succeed Monti
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Democratic Party head Pier Luigi Bersani, whose party leads in opinion polls, won the first round of a primary in his bid to succeed Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in elections next year.
Bersani won 44.6 percent, compared to 36.6 percent for Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi, the closest of the four candidates who were vying to lead a coalition of center-left parties in elections due by May, with about 40 percent of votes counted. As Bersani, 61, failed to win more than half of the vote, he will face Renzi in a second round on Dec. 2.