Campaigning ends for Italy general election

Campaigning for Italy's general election, to be held on Sunday and Monday, has ended with candidates banned from publicly rallying for support in the 24 hours before the polls open.

The outcome of the election, a key vote amid the country’s long economic recession, is deeply uncertain, analysts have said.

Four political leaders are in the race, including outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monto and former premier Silvio Berlusconi.

Comedian-turned-politican Beppe Grillo, the 64-year-old leader of the protest Five Star Movement party, has grabbed headlines and tapped into a national mood of disillusion, calling for established parties to "get out" at a rally in Rome attended by about half a million people.

"This vote is not at all certain," said one pollster who asked not to be named because of a ban on the publication of opinion surveys in the fortnight before voting. "One percentage point either way could lead to chaos or a clear winner."

Italy is suffering its longest economic recession in 20 years, with public debt standing above 120 percent of GDP.

Monti was also an easy target for both Berlusconi, whose campaign centred on attacking the prime minister's hated new housing tax, and Grillo, who nicknamed him "Rigor Montis".