**Italians are awaiting results from a regional election billed as a big test for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.**Pojections suggest he and his coalition partner, the Northern League, have held off a challenge from left and centre-left parties.
Mr Berlusconi has been embroiled in personal and political controversies in recent months.
Officials said turnout had been low by Italy’s standards - about 65%, seven percentage points down on last time.
Polls closed on Monday after two days of voting in 13 of the country’s 20 regions.
Projections based on partial results showed Mr Berlusconi’s coalition holding on to the two regions it already controls, and putting up a strong showing in at least two others, local media reported.
Mr Berlusconi campaigned for his People of Freedom (PDL) party on the slogan “Love Always Wins Over Envy and Hatred”.
The party had been expected to add to its tally of two regions from the last election.
However, analysts say the controversies surrounding Mr Berlusconi reduced the party’s chances of making significant gains.
The party’s candidates have been barred from standing in Lazio after an official missed a deadline to submit the required documents.
Mr Berlusconi’s civil protection chief Guido Bertolaso, widely respected for leading the response to last year’s earthquake in L’Aquila, has been accused of corruption.
Then last week, Italian media said the prime minister was being investigated for allegedly trying to pressure the communications watchdog to block state TV chat shows critical of his government.
Mr Berlusconi had already suffered a turbulent 2009, marked by allegations about his friendship with a teenage model and about escort girls attending parties at his residences.
His wife also filed for divorce, and he suffered a broken nose when a man threw a model of Milan cathedral at his face.
Some 41 million Italians - two-thirds of the population - were eligible to vote in the election.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.