Alessandra Mussolini

The decision is a potential blow to the coalition of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as the flamboyant populist could split the center-right vote in a key seat at regional polls April 3-4.

Mussolini, head of the far-right Social Alternative party, will stand for the leadership of Lazio, the Rome region run by the National Alliance, a government party that gradually shook off its fascist heritage during the 1990s.

She was initially banned from the poll after an electoral committee ruled that a petition supporting her candidacy -- a requirement under Italian electoral law -- contained hundreds of false signatures.

An electoral committee found 860 of the 4,000 signatures were doubtful, including people who had apparently signed and dated the documents Feb. 31.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 2, 2005
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