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A far-right Italian Brothers candidate appears ready to end 27 years of left-wing rule in eastern Marche and take the party’s second regional presidency.
However, the center-left is likely to retain its stronghold in Tuscany, according to exit polls for key Italian regional elections.
Brothers of Italy, led by the increasingly popular Giorgia Meloni and part of a coalition led by Matteo Salvini’s League and which included Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, was also slightly behind the Democratic party candidate in Puglia.
The Italian Brothers’ candidate for the Marche regional presidency, Francesco Acquaroli, was predicted to get 47-51% of the vote, compared with 34-38% for the center-left candidate. A victory there would give the Brothers of Italy, descendants of a post-fascist party, their second regional headquarters after Abruzzo.
“[Marche] it is an important victory for Meloni, ”said Mattia Diletti, professor of politics at Sapienza University in Rome. “His goal is to lead the coalition and he has understood that it is more of a marathon than a sprint.”
There was strong voter turnout in the seven regions that hosted elections on Sunday and Monday, as well as in a referendum to reduce the number of MPs, which is projected to have supported an overwhelming 69% of Italians. The referendum was backed by the Five Star Movement, the party that governs nationally with the Democratic Party.
Salvini’s coalition was also sure to retain Veneto, with the incumbent leader, Luca Zaia, set for a landslide victory, as well as the Liguria region. The center-left was prepared to hold Campania, where the popularity of Vincenzo De Luca, the incumbent president, has risen thanks to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Victory in Tuscany would allow the Democratic Party to breathe a sigh of relief.
La Liga was also ahead in the small region of Valle d’Aosta, which has its own party system. If the coalition’s victories are confirmed in the final results, it would give the group more than half of Italy’s 20 regions, with nine captured by the left in recent years.
The group is the largest political force in Italy, but its latest successes are unlikely to have much of an impact on the shaky national coalition led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
“I think the government will remain stable but with some tremors,” added Diletti. “It is too important for them to be stable to have a good relationship with Europe.”
