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Italy’s mayoral election results: Right claims historically leftwing cities

A centre-right coalition led by Italy's nationalist League won an extra seven cities in mayoral elections on Sunday, including strongholds of the left that elected their first rightwing mayor in more than half a century.

Published: 10 June 2019 11:04 CEST
Italy's mayoral election results: Right claims historically leftwing cities
Italy's centre-right has another reason to celebrate after mayoral elections. File photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

In a second round of voting the city of Ferrara swung right for the first time since 1950, while Forlì ended 50 years of leftwing governance. Both are in the region of Emilia-Romagna, the heart of the traditional 'red belt' of leftwing voters across northern-central Italy that has shown drastic erosion in recent elections.

Matteo Salvini, head of the League and Italy's prominent deputy prime minister, called the victories “extraordinary”. They come on the heels of triumphant European elections two weeks ago in which his party won more than a third of the vote.

In total, his coalition – which also comprises the centre-right Forza Italia and far-right Brothers of Italy – added an extra seven provincial capitals to its tally after Sunday's run-off vote, including Pavia and Biella in the north, Pescara in the centre and Vibo Valentina in the south.

Combined with the first round of voting two weeks ago, that leaves the centre-right in charge of 12 provincial seats.

READ ALSO: How Italy's migrant model town Riace veered far-right


Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

The centre-left, meanwhile, has 14, having taken Rovigo in Veneto from the centre-right and Livorno in Tuscany from the anti-establishment Five Star Movement but lost six mayors. Most of its wins were 'holds' in places where city hall was already controlled by the left, including Florence, Bari, Prato and Reggio Emilia.

“Great victories and great holds,” commented the head of the Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, which leads Italy's progressive opposition.

“There's an alternative to Salvini and it's a new centre-left. And this is only the start.”

The Five Star Movement, which governs in coalition with the League but runs against it in elections, won the one and only provincial capital where it was still in the running after a disastrous first round: Campobasso in Molise.

In total 136 towns and cities voted in Sunday's second round, out of 3,778 that took part in the first round on May 26th. Neither of Italy's biggest cities, Rome and Milan, were involved, following a different electoral schedule that will see them next elect a mayor in 2021.

Turnout on Sunday was down by around 16 percent: 52.1 percent of voters came back for the run-off, compared to 68.2 percent in the first round.

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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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