The centre-left parties have made big in-roads into local government taking both Rome and Turin in the mayoral run-off elections. The central-right held on to Trieste.
The centre-left won Rome and Turin while the centre-right held Trieste in mayoral runoffs in the remaining three regional capitals across Italy today (Monday 18th October). The centre-left took Milan, Naples and Bologna in the first round two weeks ago.
This makes a healthy scoreline for the centre-left, especially as they also won six out of seven provincial capitals on Monday. The overall runoff score in the bigger cities is eight to two for the centre-left.
Gualtieri is new Rome mayor
In Rome, centre-left candidate and former economy minister Roberto Gualtieri thanked Romans for voting him in. His opponent Enrico Michetti was accused of anti-semitism a week before the vote. The election also resulted in a record low turn-out.
“Thank you Romans for this so significant result, by which I feel honoured. I’ll put everything into it,” Gualtieri said. “I’ll be the mayor of all Roman women and Roman men, and of all the city. An extraordinary piece of work is beginning to relaunch Rome and make it grow, to make it become more inclusive and to make it work.
Nicola Zingaretti, governor of Lazio and brother of Montalbano actor Luca, celebrated with Gualtieri in Rome.
“All the municipalities will be the fundamental engine for us, we want a city of quarters. I want to address all the social, economic and productive forces: it is time to realise a great pact for development and employment. I ask all the forces of this city, I ask everyone, to participate for a great season of recovery”.
The two centre-left and centre-right candidates had prevailed in the first round over incumbent and formerly anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) Virginia Raggi. The ex-mayor struggled with complaints over transport and rubbish as well as a wild boar invasion.
Other major cities
In Turin, centre-left candidate Stefano Lo Russo dedicated his mayoral runoff win to a late socially activist priest, Father Aldo Rabino, who “was a master for me, a father, a guide. A Salesian, and historic chaplain of Turin, Father Rabino, who did in 2015, started Lo Russo out on his career in volunteering and politics.
In Trieste, meanwhile, centre-right incumbent mayor Roberto Dipiazza kept his job with 51.29% of the vote compared to 48.71% for the centre left’s Francesco Russo. “I’ve won,” Dipaiazza said, before phoning his defeated rival and vowing to work together on a major project to transform the Old Port.
Regional capitals Rome, Turin and Trieste were among 10 provincial capitals to hold runoff votes on Sunday and Monday, in elections in 65 cities involving five million eligible voters.
The other provincial capitals were Varese, Savona, Latina, Benevento, Caserta, Isernia and Cosenza.
The centre left won all these except for Benevento where popular longtime mayor and former justice minister Clemente Mastella, on an independent centre-right ticket, narrowly retained his job.
Centre-left triumphant
Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader Enrico Letta described the mayoral elections in Italy as “a triumphant victory”. They took five out of six major cities.
“I have always learned that the most important thing is to listen to voters,” he said. “And they are ahead of us, they have rallied and merged, those of the centre left and the broad coalition that I decided to build,” he said, referring to an alliance with the ex-populist M5S in most cities.
Letta said “unity means better candidates, a broad coalition and a fundamental enlargement effort”. He also said there should not be an early general election, and that PM Draghi should continue to lead the government until the end of the parliamentary term in 2023.
Centre-right and right see things differently
Rightwing nationalist League leader Matteo Salvini said “mayors elected by a minority are a democratic flop” due to the low turnout, with less than one in two eligible voters turning out. He added, “we have more mayors than 15 days ago”.
Hard-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni said it was a “defeat but not a debacle” for the centre right which also includes ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party.
Instead, she said the debacle was for the Five Star Movement (MS5), allegedly preyed upon by the PD.
