What brought Francesco Rocca to the helm of the Lazio region is a clear, landslide victory. A success of the united centre-right which, however, looking at the still partial results, bears above all the signature of the Brothers of Italy. In 2018, when Nicola Zingaretti won with just under 33%, Giorgia Meloni’s party was third in the coalition after Forza Italia and Lega. But in Italian politics five years is a geological age. And so, from that 8.7% everything changed. Buoyed by the tailwind of the latest policies, when the FdI soared around 30%, making “Giorgia” the country’s first female prime minister, in Lazio nearly five months later the party hit around 34%. And as happened on September 25th, the other coalition parties contributed to the success but followed from afar. The League maintains the percentage, around 8%, even with a drastic drop in the vote. And regional coordinator Claudio Durigon says he is “very satisfied”, while awaiting “the results of the lists”. Carroccio’s is a destination shared with Forza Italia, which should also register a substantial drop in the result, from 14% of the 2018 regionals to around 7% in the last few hours.
Results that, it must be said, are significantly different in the provinces, where Lega and Forza Italia are more rooted than in the capital. In Latina, for example, the Azzurri account for 19% and in Rieti Carroccio is the second party after the FdI, around 22%. The Lazio 5-Star Movement is in deep disrepair, which this time runs the risk of not reaching 10%, while five years ago the Grillina list, with more than 559,000 votes (22%), surpassed those collected by the dem. Also in 2018 the pentastellati decided to run alone, supporting Roberta Lombardi, but the national climate was decidedly more favourable. On March 4 of that year, incidentally, there was also a vote on the policies and the grillino feat, above 32%, gave rise to the yellow-green government. But leader Giuseppe Conte holds the line. “The results tell us that algebraic summing would get us nowhere,” he said after the polls closed. The reference to the center-left and the defeated candidate Alessio D’Amato is clear, pointing the finger precisely at the political choices of the former Prime Minister of Lazio. But despite the defeat, the Democratic Party can say it has stood its ground. In 2018, the result of the list was 21.25% and five years after ten years in government of the Region, the dem are still around twenty.
What has clearly changed, however, is participation. From 66.55% at the time to 37.19% recorded yesterday at 3 pm. A lack of love for polling stations which, given the results, seems to demonstrate, on the one hand, the will of center-right voters to participate in a victory considered very within reach and, on the other hand, the distrust of people on the left, generally more inclined to go to the polls. “It is in participation and confidence in politics that we have to work”, highlights Bruno Astorre, regional secretary of the Democratic Party, while the outgoing national leader, Enrico Letta, cannot contain a wave of pride. “The Democratic Party – said Letta in fact – obtains a more than significant result, demonstrates its coalition effort and rejects the challenge of the M5S and the Third Pole”. Carlo Calenda’s judgment is quite different, which does not skimp on self-criticism. «Disappointing results – tweeted the leader of the Third Pole – In Lazio, where we were in a coalition and in Lombardy, where we were alone. Regionals for a new party and opinion are very difficult. From tomorrow we accelerate into a single party and start again ». And while the losers are forced into the usual analysis, the real game now begins in Pisana. The – fundamental – preference data is still lacking, but yesterday’s percentages may tempt more than anyone in the FdI to try the “ace take it all” move. Among secretariats to be assigned, presidencies and vice-presidencies, balance with allies will be a priority for maintaining the new course of the center-right.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
