PRESS RELEASE
Anti-Euro Parties Score Major Gains in Italian Regional Vote
June 1, 2015 (EIRNS)—The winner of the regional elections in Italy yesterday is apparently Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s party, but a second glance at the results shows a different picture. The Democratic Party (PD) kept four regions (Tuscany, Campania, Umbria and Marche), lost one (Liguria) and gained one (Campania). In total, it took five out of seven regions where elections were held. However:
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In all regions where the PD won, the candidates were either outgoing governors or belonging to the anti-Renzi faction in the PD (for instance in Campania and Apulie); Renzi’s candidates were swept away in Liguria, where they lost against Berlusconi’s right-hand man Toti; and in Veneto where outgoing Lega Nord Governor Luca Zaia scored more than twice as much as Renzi’s candidate. In order to get a complete picture, however, we must wait to see how many Renzi types were elected as councilmen.
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The anti-euro "party" is the largest party, if we add the votes of Lega Nord, Five Star Movement (M5S) and others which campaigned against the euro.
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The Lega has now become a national party with percentages between 14% and 20% in central Italy. M5S is the second largest party with an average vote of about 20% nationally.
Voter participation was very low by Italian standards, at 53.9%, and 10 points below the last elections in 2010.
Independent candidate Gabriele Chiurli, who campaigned for Glass-Steagall and was supported by Movisol, was given 0.28% in Tuscany.
