Posted on 06/05/2016 11:38:00 PM PDT by Cronos
Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement (5SM) took a large lead in the first round of voting for the mayor of Rome, in a possible blow to prime minister Matteo Renzi.
Some 13 million people, or a quarter of the adult population, were eligible to vote for mayors in around 1,300 towns and cities, with attention focused firmly on a handful of major centres, including the capital.
Victory in Rome would be a huge breakthrough for anti-establishment 5SM, which was founded in 2009 by comedian Beppe Grillo and has grown to be Italy's second largest party.
A victory by the populist party in the capital's mayoral election is considered to be a key marker of whether the 5SM could eventually challenge Mr Renzi for leadership of the whole country.
The election comes at a time when European populist parties are on the rise. In May, Austria went very close to becoming the first European Union country to elect a far-Right head of state.
The 5SM candidate in Rome, Virginia Raggi, has taken the lead in the first round of the mayoral race with 35.5% of the vote, while Roberto Giachetti, from Mr Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD), seems to have edged over far-right candidate Giorgia Meloni by about 4% (24.7% v 20.7%) as the last votes are still being counted.
...Ms Raggi's main campaign promise, and the reason for her popularity, is to put an end to the capital's history of mismanagement and corruption.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Word outside the courtroom is that the jury has indicated that it has reached a verdict and is ready to proceed with their official duties. If I was a betting man, I’d guess a not guilty verdict will be forthcoming. ;O)
Forza Italia!
Rome and all of Italy could use a thorough flushing out of the establishment even more than we do.
The 5 stars party is a bit naive and optimistic regarding the cesspool of Roman politics, but I wish them luck.
mama mia, che belleza! Molto bella donna!
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