In Italy, the left wins in municipal elections and conquers Rome – archyde

“I thank the people of Trieste with affection for this wonderful new emotion. “ With these very sober words, the outgoing mayor of the main city of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, Roberto Dipiazza (Forza Italia, moderate right), commented on Monday, October 18, in the early evening, his re-election with a breath, with 51.3% of the vote. Apart from this short message, the Italian right had nothing to celebrate at the end of the second round of the partial municipal elections which were held on October 17 and 18 and which saw an increase the pushing tendency of the left observed two weeks earlier.

The mayor of Turin easily returned to the candidate supported by the left forces, Stefano Lo Russo (59.2% of the vote), who will therefore succeed the mayor 5 Star Movement (M5S, anti-system) Chiara Appendino – without the slightest chance of success, she had chosen not to run again. If such a result is not a surprise, being a city historically anchored on the left, it appears quite unexpected in its scale. Barely a month ago, the city was cited as a potential target for the right-wing by most political commentators, who expected a very close second round anyway.

In Rome, the result was just as clear. Former Minister of the Economy Roberto Gualtieri (Democratic Party, center left), who came in second on the evening of the first round, finally won over Enrico Michetti with more than 20 points in advance, after a campaign of disastrous in-between turns for the right-wing candidate, accused of complacency towards extreme right-wing groups and more broadly of nostalgia for fascism.

Conservatives’ “lack of unity”

Beyond these results, it is the extent of the successes of the left and the general nature of the pressure observed between the two towers that are striking. In Latina, the second city of Lazio, the candidate presented by the right, Vincenzo Zaccheo, particularly well established locally, had come close to the election in the first round, with more than 48% of the votes. In the second round, he painfully reached 45%, ahead of more than 10 points by the outgoing Damiano Coletta, supported by the whole of the left.

“It’s a triumphant victory”, greeted Democratic Party secretary Enrico Letta in the early evening as the scale of the left’s push began to emerge. On the other side of the political spectrum, however, the main right-wing leaders sought above all to minimize the importance of this election, which was not national in character. Thereby, the president of the League (far right), Matteo Salvini, he especially sought to emphasize the general surge of abstention and to blame the government’s attitude towards the protesters against the health pass, which would have contributed to demobilize its electorate.

You have 42.93% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.