By Catherine Hornby ROME (Reuters) - Italy's battered center-left won the election for mayor of Rome on Monday and appeared set to do well in other cities, giving a lift to Prime Minister Enrico Letta as he strives to control an uneasy coalition with traditional rivals on the right. The center-left candidate, former surgeon Ignazio Marino, took 63.8 percent of votes in a run-off ballot on Sunday and Monday, defeating the outgoing mayor Gianni Alemanno who won 36.2 percent, a partial Interior Ministry count showed.

Romans on Monday voted to return the Italian capital to the centre-left after right-wing mayor Gianni Alemanno lost his re-election bid to little known challenger Ignazio Marino in polls marred by low turnout. Alemanno conceded defeat, saying the results in city races across the country for his People of Freedom party (PDL) led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi were "not positive", blaming the losses on Italians' "disaffection" with politics, as only about half of eligible voters cast ballots.

A lawmaker from Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party said he was submitting a draft bill on Thursday to recognise same-sex unions, a day after France celebrated its first gay wedding. "We are very behind in terms of civil rights in Italy," the deputy, Giancarlo Galan, told AFP, saying it would apply the "same rules" as marriage. Under the proposed law "gay couples will have the same rights and duties as heterosexual ones," he said, particularly on inheritance and pensions.

By Steve Scherer and Naomi O'Leary ROME (Reuters) - The center-left candidate for Rome mayor in an election seen as a test of Italy's fragile coalition government was leading the field, projections showed on Monday, but the ballot is likely to go to a run-off next month. Ignazio Marino of the Democratic Party (PD) would get from 41 to 43 percent of the vote while his center-right rival, incumbent Gianni Alemanno of Silvio Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party, was set to take 28-30 percent.