Five-Star Movement candidate Alessandra Todde winning the regional elections in Sardinia against Fratelli d’Italia’s Paolo Truzzu represents a clear setback for the right wing and the government coalition led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ahead of June’s EU elections.
Todde, who will be the first woman to lead Sardinia, beat the centre-right candidate and mayor of the regional capital, Cagliari (who lost in his own city) after a long and heated election day. According to unofficial results, Todde won around 45.4% of the vote, while Truzzu obtained 45%.
In terms of votes, the gap is only around 3,000 – a gap that can be explained by the split vote whereby citizens had to cast a vote for the president and one vote for a party.
Todde received more votes than Truzzu, although the parties supporting Truzzu received more votes than those supporting Todde. Nevertheless, the Democratic Party (PD) came first (13.8%), just ahead of the Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) (13.6%). Meanwhile, the Five Star Movement (5SM) came in third with 7.7%, while Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani’s Forza Italia (FI/EPP) won 6.4%. While Matteo Salvini’s Lega (ID) fared even worse with just 3.8%.
The result of the vote gives new strength to those who are in favour of an alliance between the 5SM and PD, with a view to other regional elections before the European elections in June: Abruzzo (10 March), Basilicata (21-22 April), Piedmont (8-9 June).
From the outset, the Sardinian regional elections split the centre-right coalition, which was already in crisis on other fronts, starting with its position on the European stage.
Meloni imposed Truzzu on her ally Salvini even before Lega’s outgoing president, Christian Solinas, was forced out due to being tied to a corruption case. After the defeat, however, Meloni and other party members accused Lega of obstructing their candidate by favouring the fragmented vote.
It is interesting to note that the centre-right coalition lost to a divided centre-left, even though a third candidate backed by some centre-left parties, Renato Soru, won 8.6% of the vote.
(Simone Cantarini|Euractiv.it)
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Source: euractiv.com
