Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right coalition has taken a slight lead against the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement in Sicily’s regional elections, according to initial projections on Monday based on the vote count.
Sunday’s ballot, which is seen as a crucial test of national trends ahead of forthcoming parliamentary elections, could mark a striking comeback for the 81-year-old, 4-times prime minister Berlusconi and a blow to the ruling centre-left.
A victory for the maverick 5-Star, on the other hand, would hand it control of its first ever Italian region and would be likely to consolidate its position as the country’s most popular party nationally. RAI state television said the centre-right’s candidate for governor of the island, Nello Musumeci, was likely to get 36 per cent of the vote, with 5-Star’s candidate Giancarlo Cancelleri on 34 per cent. Private channel La7 put Musumeci on 37.3 per cent and Cancelleri on 36.8 per cent.
The centre-left, led by Matteo Renzi’s ruling Democratic Party, looked certain to finish a distant third after internal feuding wrecked its chances of retaining power on the Mediterranean island that it had governed since 2012. Its candidate Fabrizio Micari was seen at least 15 points behind the frontrunner in both surveys, followed by Claudio Fava, the candidate of a cluster of left-wing parties.
This closely watched contest in the beachfront district comes more than a year after the 5-Star took control of Rome’s city hall for the first time, winning two-thirds of the vote. Five-Star candidate Giuliana Di Pillo won just over 30 per cent of the vote compared with almost 27 per cent for Monica Picca, who headed a coalition that included Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and the far-right Brothers of Italy party. The two will face each other in a runoff to be held on November 19th.
The national election, to be held by May at the latest, is almost certain to produce a hung parliament, polls suggest, but a resurgent centre-right coalition with Berlusconi at the forefront looks set to win most votes and seats. The billionaire media tycoon was widely written off after being expelled from public office following a tax fraud conviction in 2013, but he returned to the political fray after open heart surgery last year and campaigned actively in Sicily. – Reuters