ITALY, with its failing airline, fractured infrastructure and faltering soccer teams, desperately needs change and innovation to keep pace with Europe, but an imminent general election is unlikely to bring either. The main contenders - media magnate Silvio Berlusconi and his rival on the left, Walter Veltroni - know the electoral system is unlikely to give them a strong mandate and have held off from unpopular policies that would tackle economic malaise. On the front page of leading newspaper Corriere della Sera, political professor Giovanni Sartori advised readers to “Vote lack of confidence, constructively,” - with opposing votes in the two chambers which would negate each other. And in rival daily La Stampa sociologist Luca Ricolfi advised voters not to vote at all, which until recently would have been taboo in a country where the turnout regularly outstrips most developed countries. That frustration finds fuel in recent crises where politicians are seen as corrupt and incompetent, more concerned with concealing crises than resolving them, graphically symbolized by the trash piled on the streets of Naples and toxins permeating the country's prized mozzarella cheese. “Anything politicians touch, it's the kiss of death, the opposite of King Midas,” said Bocconi university professor Carlo Alberto Carnevale-Maffe. Italy's one-time flagship airline Alitalia is near bankruptcy and the government is looking to European neighbor Air France-KLM to rescue it. A long-promised bridge connecting the mainland to Sicily has never got off the ground, the road and rail system lack investment and construction in city centers seems to focus on car parks. Milan, the country's financial capital, has just been appointed host of the Universal Exhibition in 2015 but will need upwards of 4 billion euros ($6.33 billion) in investments to meet the challenge. The economy has lagged its euro zone partners for at least a decade and this week the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its forecast for Italy's growth this year to just 0.3 percent against a 1.4 percent rise for the euro zone. Spain, which Italians see as their poor relation in Europe, is seen boosting its wealth just short of 3 percent this year. Summing up the sense of malaise, even the country's soccer teams have failed to make the grade this year, with no Italian squads in the final four of the European Champions League. One of the few areas where Italy is above average among countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is for longevity, with an average 79.7 years life expectancy. But that goes hand in hand with a static, risk-averse society where few people reach positions of power before their fifties. The country's biggest insurer Assicurazioni Generali, known for its conservative strategy, is run by an 83-year-old. Car maker Fiat was ruled by the patriarchal Gianni Agnelli for decades before his death in 2003 aged 81. Outgoing Prime Minister Romano Prodi is 68, Berlusconi himself is 71 and running to be prime minister for a third time, following a health scare last year which his beaming countenance and bouncing personality belie. Veltroni, a mere stripling at 52, talks more about the need for change but lags in the polls. And neither contender looks likely to win the kind of majority necessary to bring in reforms due to Italy's flawed electoral system, which has spawned dozens of parties but rarely produces a government that lasts more than a couple of years. “Political fragmentation could once again dilute the incisiveness and depth of reforms that Italy urgently needs,” said Morgan Stanley analysts in a research note. __
