And Mr D'Alema will find it equally hard to tackle the countless lobbies that make any reform in Italy so difficult: from rail workers to postal workers, from school-teachers to the officer corps, from politically motivated magistrates to the Christian pressure-groups that make sure the immigration laws are not implemented (this week, once again, hundreds of people landed illegally on Italy's shores).
"It is unfortunate that out of nearly 100, 000 postal packs that this number appears to have been mislaid, " said Tom Riordan, returning officer for Leeds.