Italy is just hours away from naming its new prime minister. The voting started yesterday and is expected to end today at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT).

The two adversaries are conservative billionaire Silvio Berlusconi and centre-left leader Walter Veltroni, and even though surveys showed Berlusconi with a rather significant advantage, the actual race is closer than anyone expected.

For the 71-year-old media magnate, this would be his third term as Prime Minister. Berlusconi, of the People of Freedom Party, had his first mandate from May 1994 to January 1995 and his second from April 2005 to May 2006.

“Berlusconi is perceived as a flag of freedom, and that is enough to make him a symbol, a very efficient symbol of something different from traditional politics," newspaper editor Giuliano Ferrara told CNN in February.

Veltroni, of the Democratic Party, was mayor of Rome from June 2001 until last month. He decided to step down in order to run for Prime Minister. He is a known as a novelist, former columnist and lifelong politician.  

The two have many similar ideas presented in their programs, including to reduce Italy’s extremely large public debt, to cut the taxes and also to liberalize the highly regulated services sector. Unfortunately, the voters are not so enthusiastic about the change, believing that Italy’s 62^nd government since World War Two will not manage to achieve, not even partially, the wanted and highly required results.

The changes Italians hope for regard a revival of the country’s economy, a stem of price rise on the basic foods and the much-needed lift of national morale.