• Italy: Elections in Emilia-Romagna, a referendum on the Government Conte
  • Step back: Luigi Di Maio resigns as leader of the M5E and staggers the government coalition in Italy

This Sunday three and a half million voters were called to the polls to elect a new regional president in Emilia-Romagna , in central Italy. It was also voted in Calabria, in the south of the country, but conquering the historic feud on the left had become a priority for Matteo Salvini. The leader of the League put all his efforts to win in a region that until a few years ago was forbidden land for his formation and transformed regional elections into a referendum on the Government of Giuseppe Conte.

Salvini has been preparing for his return to power for months after a calculation error led him to break the alliance with the Five Star Movement, with whom he ruled for just over a year, to force early elections that were never held. . The candidate of her party, Lucia Borgonzoni , who presented herself supported by the conservative formations Forza Italia, of Silvio Berlusconi, and Brothers of Italy, of Giorgia Meloni , left all the prominence during the election campaign to Il Capitano. "We will free Emilia-Romagna and then we will liberate the country with Matteo Salvini," Borgonzoni said at a rally in Maranello, making clear what the intentions of the former Interior Minister were.

This time, Salvini could not use immigration or the economic crisis as an electoral weapon. Emilia-Romagna, which the center-left governs since 1970, is the Italian region with the least unemployment and the second richest in the country after Lombardy. That has not prevented, however, that the extreme right has made progress in recent years. In the European elections of May 2018, the League was the most voted party with 33% of the votes, compared to 31% that won the PD.

Installed for months in the region, with an almost door to door campaign, Salvini has tried to take advantage of his possible prosecution for the blockade of a military ship with a hundred migrants on board last summer, when he was Minister of the Interior. "There are times when, in order to achieve freedom, it is necessary to go through prison first," he launched at an election ceremony this week, paraphrasing the anti-communist writer Giovannino Guareschi .

His campaign team summoned a fast to protest the more than probable trial for abuse of power and kidnapping of people he will face and he enabled a web page to seek the support of his followers. "There are almost 5,000 Italians and Italians who do not even know those who today give up lunch and dinner as a sign of closeness and protest. And I with them," he defended. A paradox if one considers that in recent months it has flooded its social networks with typical products of the region such as ham or Parmesan cheese to attract the vote of agricultural entrepreneurs and artisans, the hard core of the local economy.

The infinite 'leguista' electoral campaign suffered its biggest stumble last week. The leader of the League visited a degraded neighborhood on the outskirts of Bologna when, encouraged by a neighbor, he called the Tunisian intercom to ask if he sold drugs , causing a diplomatic crisis and outrage of much of the country.

The only ones able to stand up to Salvini have been the 'sardines', the spontaneously born civic movement two months ago in Bologna, capital of Emilia-Romagna, to protest against the leader of the League, whom they accuse of fostering hatred . The 'sardines' did not appear at the polls, but analysts point out that their message could have served to mobilize the leftist vote. The main political rival of Salvini was the current president of the region, Stefano Bonaccini , of the PD, who won five years ago with an influx that touched the historical minimum. This time, on the other hand, the influx to the polls doubled the one registered in 2014 , when two out of every three voters stayed at home. For its part, the M5E refused to support Bonaccini and presented a candidate for a virtually unknown 49-year-old businessman, Simone Benini . A decision that has revealed a failure and aggravates the crisis in which the formation founded by Beppe Grillo is immersed.

The step back of Luigi Di Maio as political leader, just four days before the elections, has left the M5E orphaned before the electoral ball that the polls already anticipated. The question now is to know if the crisis of the main Government partner, and the unstoppable advance of the right that certify these elections, will affect the future of the Executive. The Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte , and the leader of the PD, Nicola Zingaretti , say that the results in Emilia-Romagna will not have any consequences at the national level, but the coalition partners seem increasingly distant on key issues such as the reform of justice or a new electoral law, which could take their toll.

On Saturday, Salvini, skipping the electoral silence to which the law obliges, warned that a victory of the center right would lead to a "notice of eviction" for the Government . Six months after precipitating the fall of the Executive, the leader of the League hopes that the unstoppable advance of his party, which exceeds 35% in intention to vote nationwide, will allow him, sooner or later, to regain power.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Matteo Salvini
  • Italy
  • Beppe Grillo
  • Internet
  • Silvio Berlusconi
  • international
  • Unemployment

ItalyThe Italian Senate debates withdrawing immunity from Matteo Salvini

Vatican City Pope Francis apologizes for reprimanding a woman who grabbed his arm in the Vatican

ItalyLuigi Di Maio resigns as leader of the M5E and shakes the government coalition in Italy