After a drubbing in the mayoral elections this week, Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein told followers on Instagram to “settle in” for a long haul. The centre-left won only one of seven provincial capitals up for grabs.
Schlein told Instagram followers today not to expect quick results. This after her party’s coalition only managed to win one of the mayoral elections being contested on Sunday and Monday.
The PD leader said the centre left has a lot of work to do to rebuild and give the country hope.
“Change is not a gala lunch.
“Make yourselves comfortable, we have a long job to do. We won’t stop. We have to rebuild a perspective giving hope to the country. Let’s do it by sticking to our task,” she said on the Instagram live feed.
Schlein, elected as the centre-left party’s first woman head at the end of February, added it was “unacceptable” to use the cash from the European recovery fund to buy weapons. She also said a commissioner who knows the lay of the local land was needed to oversee reconstruction in Emilia-Romagna.
Heavy criticism of Schlein
Schlein, 38, has faced heavy criticism from moderate and reformist elements of her party, especially post-Christian Democrat ones, after the centre left won just one of seven provincial capitals in Sunday’s mayoral run-offs.
The only winner from the centre-left was Giacomo Possamai in Viacenza. He told party leaders not to attend his rallies, and that clearly paid off even though his win was a narrow 50.5% to 49.5%.
The biggest loss, though, was Ancona to the centre-right. The long-time Marche fief was a centre-left stronghold for the past 30 years.
