Local elections in Italy are a test for Meloni’s government and the first challenge for Schlein

The local elections which are celebrated by this Sunday in 790 Italian municipalitiesof which 17 provincial capitals, and for those that gathered more than six million voters, are a new test for the right-wing government Giorgio Meloni after seven months in power. And they are the first big election challenge for the new leader of the opposition, progressive Elly Schlein.

Polling stations are open from Sunday (7:00 AM to 11:00 PM local time; 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM GMT) until Monday at 3:00 PM (1:00 PM GMT), when counting will begin.

For cities with more than 15,000 inhabitants, a second round is scheduled in the absence of an absolute majority, which will take place on May 28 and 29, when votes will also be held in some municipalities on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia (south), while Trentino and Valle d’Aosta (north) will do so on the 21st.

In question, between the two circles, are the regional capital of Ancona and 17 provincial ones, including Brescia, Pisa, Siena, Latina, Treviso and Brindisi, with the right currently in the lead, since it rules in nine of them, while the center-left does at six, so it’s a challenge for both the majority in power and the opposition.

The elections will show, seven months after the formation of Meloni’s executive power, the sympathies gathered by the center-right, which presents itself as compact and unified: “This can affect the weight of our Government,” warned one of his partners Berlusconi. in a video message from the hospital in Milan (north), where he was admitted for pneumonia caused by the leukemia he suffers from.

“I want to remind all our fellow citizens of their duty to go to the polls, because those who do not vote let others decide the future of their municipality and their city. Therefore, whoever does not vote is not a good citizen, not a good Italian,” the 86-year-old three-time prime minister said on Friday.

This will be the first major electoral test for the leader of the Democratic Party (PD), the main formation of the center-left, which in these elections hopes to regain the strongholds lost in 2018, especially Siena and Pisa, one of the six capitals he is going to in alliance with the populist 5 Star Movement. (M5S). “A structural alliance is not on the agenda, a structural alliance is not on the table,” said M5S leader former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, who agrees with Schlein on some points, such as his criticism of the reformist work of Giorgio Meloni.