Discontent surfacing as Europeans vote

Petr Mares, the Freedom Union's leader, said he would resign from his post if the exit poll results are confirmed.

Political analyst Jiri Pehe told The Associated Press such a result could cause the party to disintegrate and "lead to the fall of the government."

In Ireland, where balloting was held Friday, exit polls indicated that the governing coalition was also down. The long-dominant Fianna Fail party of Prime Minister Bertie Ahern slipped 6 percentage points from previous local and European elections, said polling by state broadcasters RTE. All three leftist parties recorded gains.

In Italy, some 50 million people — 88 percent of the population — were eligible to vote Saturday and Sunday to elect 78 parliament representatives. The voting here and in several other countries included local elections.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has faced strong opposition for his support of the U.S.-led coalition and his decision to send some 3,000 troops to Iraq to help in reconstruction.

The conservatives' main opponent is a group of center-left parties headed by European Commission President Romano Prodi.

Italian players with the national soccer team took a break at the European Championship in Portugal to vote at the embassy. "It's good to take advantage of voting rights because then we don't have to complain if things don't go how we want," coach Giovanni Trapattoni said.

Italy, a founding member of the EU, has always had a strong pro-European stance. Nonetheless, turnout was expected to be low — and the beginning of the European soccer tournament wasn't likely to help.

Winners in each nation will divvy up the number of seats in the EU Parliament, which meets in Strasbourg, France. Italy is assigned 78 seats in the new parliament — nine fewer than in the previous vote in 1999. The Czech Republic will hold 24 seats, and Ireland 13. Several nations, including Ireland, are holding elections for local posts at the same time.

Malta, a tiny Mediterranean island with a population of roughly 400,000, was choosing five parliament representatives — the smallest number of any country.

"This election is making us Maltese realize that we will no longer feel small because of our land mass," said voter Joe Abela, a civil servant. "Now our representatives will be involved in the decisions taken by 25 member states."

While the European Parliament cannot introduce legislation — that right is reserved for the European Commission — its powers have steadily grown to the point that it now influences all EU laws, by voting on them and amending them. It can even ask the commission to revise EU legislation, which is binding on all member states.

On Sunday, along with Italy's second day of voting, ballots will be cast in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.

Europe-wide final results are to be announced at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday.