RomeThe left won the partial municipal elections held on Sunday and Monday in a hundred cities in Italy, despite the main protagonist abstaining from the vote, with one in two voters remaining at home.
About 17 million Italians were invited to cast their votes in the second round of municipal elections, which were held on June 8 and 9, coinciding with the European elections, to renew the 3,700 municipal councils and the government of the Piedmont region, in the north of the country across the Alps. The second round took place exclusively in cities with a population of more than 15,000 people, where none of the candidates obtained an absolute majority. This was the case for nine provinces and five regional capitals: Florence, Bari, Perugia, Potenza and Campobasso.
The progressive alliance between the Democratic Party and the 5-Star Movement, the main forces opposing the right-wing government led by Giorgia Meloni, which presented itself in coalition in some municipal councils, has prevailed throughout the country. Regional capitals. Democratic Party leader Eli Schlein, who celebrated the victory, said: “The cities have rejected the ruling right and sent a clear message to Giorgia Meloni.”
One of the places that aroused the greatest anticipation was Florence, where the leftist candidate, Sarah Funaro, faced off against the German Eike Schmidt, former director of the Uffizi Gallery, who ran with the support of the Rights Coalition and Meloni’s blessing.
Schmidt’s nomination was an opportunity for the Italian executive to seize power from the left in one of the last regions red From Italy, the German historian, who enjoys great popularity among the Florentines, was the only candidate whom the conservatives had a real chance of winning at the ballot boxes, but Schmidt had no choice but to admit defeat to Fonaro, who now received 60% of the votes. The first woman mayor of Florence.
The victory of the center-left extended to Cremona, while the right was victorious in Rovigo and Lecce. The Conservative defeat was particularly painful in Perugia, a historic left-wing fiefdom where they established control ten years ago but which has returned to progressive hands. This result will serve as a waiting hall for the elections in the Umbria region that will be held at the end of the year.
In the first round, 29 regional capitals were at stake, and the centre-left coalition, although often divided between the Democratic Party and the M5E movement, won ten councils in cities such as Bergamo, Reggio Emilia or Modena, ahead of the five that went. In the hands of the center right.
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