Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi's center-left coalition scored some big wins in Italy's local polls, comfortably passing its first test at the ballot box since its narrow victory in last month's general election.

Of the four big cities where mayoral elections were held, the center-left easily kept control of Rome, Turin and Naples, final results showed Tuesday.

In Milan, a center-right stronghold, Silvio Berlusconi's candidate won but by a smaller margin than expected. "It has gone very well," Prodi told reporters late on Monday. "Apart from Milan... the other cities, the most important ones, are in our hands," he said.

The results are a boost for Prodi, who needed a good showing in the local polls to counter claims by Berlusconi that his knife-edge victory in April was the result of irregularities during the vote.

They could also strengthen Prodi's hand as he tackles deteriorating public finances that could trigger a downgrade of Italy's debt rating unless he can push through unpopular reforms with his razor-thin parliamentary majority.

The polls were certain to have disappointed Berlusconi, who had hoped for a swift comeback after losing power in the closest election in Italy's post-war history.

"The failed revenge" was the headline of a front-page editorial in left-leaning La Repubblica Tuesday.

The two-day vote across more than 1,260 cities and towns ended on Monday afternoon. Results trickled through the night.

(China Daily May 31, 2006)