UDC's leader, Pier Ferdinando Casini, who had dreamt of holding the balance, will dream on.

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UDC, it needs 8% of the vote in any one region to win seats.

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But the UDC's leader, Pier Ferdinando Casini, had pledged never again to sit in a cabinet presided over by Mr Berlusconi.

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Just as it frustrated Mr Tremonti's tax-cutting ambitions, it will also frustrate the big-spending aspirations of the National Alliance and the UDC.

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UDC, part of Mr Berlusconi's centre-right coalition until 2006, has split away.

ECONOMIST: Italy's election

Any such move would lead to a broad alliance inevitably including the opposing PD (headed by Pierluigi Bersani) and the social conservatives of the UDC.

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UDC's best hope, the speaker of the Senate, Pier Ferdinando Casini.

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UDC, which was an ally but has now deserted his coalition.

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The UDC results were announced by Dr. Kwang Ohk Cheon, Senior Research Scientist at Universal Display, during the 10th International Meeting on Information Display (IMID 2010), from October 11 to 15 in Korea.

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The only party that could have given Mr Berlusconi's coalition the votes it needed was the Centre Union (UDC), a party of Christian Democrats that formed part of his government from 2001 to 2006.

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