Pier Luigi Bersani chosen as centre-Left's candidate for Italian elections Pier Luigi Bersani, who won a run-off primary by a huge margin on Sunday, has said repeatedly that in power he would stick to the reforms made by Mario Monti, the technocrat prime minister of Italy, but seek to soften the impact on workers and the poor and put more emphasis on economic growth. He will stand in national elections, likely in March, against a yet to be chosen centre-Right candidate to take over from Mr Monti. According to an early exit poll, 61-year-old Mr Bersani, a former industry minister and current party secretary, won the Democratic Party primary with an estimated 61.5 per cent of the vote, compared with 38.5 per cent for his rival, Matteo Renzi, 37, the mayor of Florence. "It was right to try it, it has been beautiful to do it together, " Mr Renzi, said "Heartfelt thanks to all." Mr Bersani won 44.9 per cent of the vote in a first-round last Sunday, while Mr Renzi, who has been criss-crossing the country campaigning for political reform, surprised his critics winning a 35.5 per cent share of the vote. Since neither candidate secured the 50 per cent majority needed to win, a second ballot was called and Mr Bersani won crucial endorsement from Nichi Vendola, the head of the Left, Ecology and Freedom Party who polled third in the first round but failed to qualify for Sunday's ballot. By late afternoon on Sunday more than 2.3 million Italians had voted, slightly down on the total 3 million who voted in the first round, amid claims by Mr Renzi's supporters that some party members in Tuscany were denied the opportunity to register to vote. Some 100,000 people who did not vote last week were hoping to vote on Sunday but only around 7,000 requests were accepted due to what the party considered legitimate reasons for having missed the first round. Meanwhile, Silvio Berlusconi's scandal-plagued People of Freedom party is suffering disarray amid continuing speculation that he will form a new party and run as a candidate in the March elections. Mr Monti has said he will not be a candidate next year but might come back if the election does not provide a clear winner.