Why Europe should be worried

THE election was bound to be messy. But on March 4th Italian voters came up with a result that has surpassed the worst predictions, and cast a pall over not only Italy but the rest of the European Union, too.Both chambers of parliament are hung, with no easy or quick way for anyone to achieve a majority (see ). More alarming is that half of the voters—fed up with high unemployment, stagnant wages, uncontrolled immigration and a self-serving political class—voted for the two main populist parties, the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Northern League. Both are hostile to the EU and especially the euro, and both campaigned on lavish tax and spending promises that Italy cannot afford. Mathematically, no government can be formed without one of them. The previously governing Democratic Party (PD) lost well over half its seats, eliminating the option of a centrist coalition. The PD’s drubbing was in part a rebuke to the vainglory of its leader, Matteo Renzi, who was trying again to become prime minister, despite losing a referendum on constitutional change in 2016. But the vote is also a rejection of the PD’s attempt at economic reform, which Italy needs but apparently cannot stomach.