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Success for Italy’s rightwing parties in Abruzzo local elections

Italy’s rightwing coalition triumphed in Abruzzo’s local elections this weekend, handing the regional senator post to Brothers of Italy and giving a boost to the League.

Published: 11 February 2019 10:30 CET
Updated: 11 February 2019 16:12 CET
Success for Italy's rightwing parties in Abruzzo local elections
The leaders of Italy’s rightwing coalition at a press conference in Pescara, Abruzzo. (L-R): Italy’s Interior Minister and deputy PM, and leader of the League party Matteo Salvini; leader of Brothers

Italy's far-right League also triumphed over its Five Star Movement (M5S) coalition partner in a regional vote seen as a test of the parties’ strength.

The local election in Abruzzo, a region east of Rome, was the first in which M5S and the League have been pitted against each other since they formed their uneasy national government coalition last June.

A rightwing League-led alliance that included its old ally, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, took just over 48 percent of the vote, results showed this morning.

The post of Abruzzo regional senator went to the rightwing coalition’s candidate, far-right Brothers of Italy member Marco Marsilio, as predicted by polls ahead of the vote.

 The vote in the Abruzzo region laid bare the difficulties for the Five Star Movement (M5S), which was the country's leading party at last year's general election but has seen its popularity recede since taking power in an uneasy coalition with the League.

The anti-immigration League, led by hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, won 28 percent in Abruzzo's local elections on Sunday, compared with 19 percent for M5S, the interior ministry said.

M5S candidate Sara Marcozzi said it was “not a defeat for M5S but for democracy”.

League leader Matteo Salvini. Photo: AFP

The regional vote is seen as a test of strength for both parties ahead of the European elections in May.

Success in the European polls would strengthen the League's hand further, with expectations that this would spur Salvini into “engineering” an early election in a bid to rule alone. 

While the M5S won 33 percent in the general election last year, far outstripping the League's 17 percent, it has since watched the rise of Salvini's party.

READ ALSO: Is Italy's League a 'far-right' party?

Both M5S head Luigi Di Maio and Salvini had campaigned heavily in the mountainous Abruzzo region ahead of the weekend vote.

The center-left, which has struggled to put up a united front against the populists, had a strong showing with 31 percent.

The League is now favoured by 34 percent of Italian voters, according to an Ipsos poll released today. 

Salvini was accused of violating election laws after he posted a tweet on election day asking people in Abruzzo to vote for the League.

No campaigning is allowed the day before the election and while the polls are still open, according to Italian electoral law. As Interior Minister, Salvini is the one responsible for ensuring that this law is followed.

READ ALSO: Matteo Salvini, Italy's rebranded nationalist sharing power with former enemy

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POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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