Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Berlusconi ally battles for survival in Rome vote

Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno, a former neo-fascist, was facing a stiff challenge from his centre-left rival in the second round of local elections on Sunday. A feared low turnout is being seen as an indictment of the country's political institutions.

Published: 9 June 2013 16:11 CEST
Berlusconi ally battles for survival in Rome vote
Gianni Alemanno and Silvio Berlusconi at a campaign rally outside the Colosseum on May 24th. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

The battle in Rome is the highlight of an otherwise lacklustre campaign. Little known on the national scene, challenger Ignazio Marino picked up 43 percent of the vote in the first round two weeks ago, while Alemanno, a former neo-fascist who is now a member of Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right PDL, came in second with 30 percent.

Victory for Marino would be a shot in the arm for the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), which lost ground in this year's inconclusive general elections, while Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right People of Freedom Party (PDL) has fared poorly in previous recent municipal votes.

"I have the full support of the PDL, and Silvio Berlusconi has entered the ring using his preferred means, which is television," Alemanno said after winning the endorsement of the media baron and former prime minister.

"The whole party is working to win this election," he said. "Everyone knows that we can't leave Rome to Mr Marino. The future of the right depends on my victory."

The two-day vote in 67 towns and cities ends at 1300 GMT on Monday, with results expected in the evening.

But turnout is at record lows, reflecting deep voter disenchantment with politicians after the two-month stalemate that followed the February vote.

In Rome, the figure was at just eight percent at noon as the sunshine lured voters to the capital's nearby beaches.

Italian President Georgio Napolitano voiced concern about the state of politics and the fate of the right-left coalition government under Prime Minister Enrico Letta.

"The problem today is to ensure the survival of the government to meet the minimum requirements of stability for the country and its institutions," he told La Repubblica.

Marcello De Vito, the candidate of the Five Star Movement of populist firebrand Beppe Grillo, scored just 12 percent in the first round in Rome despite the anti-establishment party's breakthrough success in the parliamentary elections.

Neither De Vito nor independent candidate Alfio Marchini, who came last in the first round with 9.5 percent, indicated their preferences in the second round.

The first-round vote in 563 towns and cities also saw a record low turnout, while the Five Star Movement failed to secure a single seat.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

‘Worrying developments’: NGOs warn of growing pressure on Italian media freedom

Media freedom in Italy has come increasingly under pressure since Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government took office, a group of European NGOs warned on Friday following an urgent fact-finding summit.

Published: 17 May 2024 17:40 CEST
‘Worrying developments’: NGOs warn of growing pressure on Italian media freedom

They highlighted among their concerns the continued criminalisation of defamation – a law Meloni herself has used against a high-profile journalist – and the proposed takeover of a major news agency by a right-wing MP.

The two-day mission, led by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), was planned for the autumn but brought forward due to “worrying developments”, Andreas Lamm of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) told a press conference.

The ECPMF’s monitoring project, which records incidents affecting media freedom such as legal action, editorial interference and physical attacks, recorded a spike in Italy’s numbers from 46 in 2022 to 80 in 2023.

There have been 49 so far this year.

Meloni, the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, took office as head of a hard-right coalition government in October 2022.

A key concern of the NGOs is the increased political influence over the RAI public broadcaster, which triggered a strike by its journalists this month.

READ ALSO: Italy’s press freedom ranking drops amid fears of government ‘censorship’

“We know RAI was always politicised…but now we are at another level,” said Renate Schroeder, director of the Brussels-based EFJ.

The NGO representatives – who will write up a formal report in the coming weeks – recommended the appointment of fully independent directors to RAI, among other measures.

They also raised concerns about the failure of repeated Italian governments to decriminalise defamation, despite calls for reform by the country’s Constitutional Court.

Meloni herself successfully sued journalist Roberto Saviano last year for criticising her attitude to migrants.

“In a European democracy a prime minister does not respond to criticism by legally intimidating writers like Saviano,” said David Diaz-Jogeix of London-based Article 19.

He said that a proposed reform being debated in parliament, which would replace imprisonment with fines of up to 50,000 euros, “does not meet the bare minimum of international and European standards of freedom of expression”.

The experts also warned about the mooted takeover of the AGI news agency by a group owned by a member of parliament with Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party – a proposal that also triggered journalist strikes.

READ ALSO: How much control does Giorgia Meloni’s government have over Italian media?

Beatrice Chioccioli of the International Press Institute said it posed a “significant risk for the editorial independence” of the agency.

The so-called Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) consortium expressed disappointment that no member of Meloni’s coalition responded to requests to meet with them.

They said that, as things stand, Italy is likely to be in breach of a new EU media freedom law, introduced partly because of fears of deteriorating standards in countries such as Hungary and Poland.

Schroeder said next month’s European Parliament elections could be a “turning point”, warning that an increase in power of the far-right across the bloc “will have an influence also on media freedom”.

SHOW COMMENTS