By Mick Krever, CNN
The “elite tend to not see what they don’t want to see,” Italian journalist Lucia Annunziata told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.
She was reacting to the deadlocked political landscape that Italy faces as results from its latest election were announced on Tuesday.
Italian parties never win outright majorities, Annunziata said, so as in most parliamentary systems must enter into a coalition.
What is astounding is just how great the impasse is that Italy seems to face.
The top three parties, those of center-left Luigi Bersani, center-right (and phoenix from the ashes) Silvio Berlusconi, and anti-establishment former comedian Beppe Grillo, are all within four percentage points of each other. And their political platforms differ greatly.
“Europe is really, really looking at us and shaking,” Annunziata said.
The only real options for a coalition, she said, lie in an alliance between Berlusconi and Bersani, or a three-way alliance that includes Grillo.
Annunziata called that second option “insane” given the gulf between Berlusconi and Grillo’s politics.
Unless one of these unlikely coalitions is formed, Annunziata said there is “no question” that an new election will need to be held.
READ MORE: Italian election rattles world markets
CNN’s Ken Olshansky produced this piece for television.