Centre right ahead in Sardinia

(ANSA) - Cagliari, February 25 - Centre-right candidate Christian Solinas was ahead after the results of about a third of the ballot sections came in on Monday following Sunday's regional elections in Sardinia. Solinas had 47.94% of the vote after the count at 616 of the 1,840 sections, followed by centre-left candidate Massimo Zedda with 33.40%. Francesco Desogus of the 5-Star Movement (M5S) was third with 11.15%. This compared with 33% at last year's general election.
    The turnout for Sunday's vote was 53.75%, up slightly with respect to the regional elections on the island in 2014.
    Premier Giuseppe Conte and Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio both said Monday that the outcome of Sunday's regional elections in Sardinia will not affect central government. Di Maio's 5-Star Movement (M5S) looks set to come third while Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's League is set to help a centre-right alliance win the vote on the island. The League and M5S were rivals until they teamed up to form a coalition government after last year's general election.
    Salvini's party continues to run with its traditional centre-right allies in local and regional elections. The M5S, which also fared badly in recent regional elections in Abruzzo, continues to run alone.
    "We must not emphasize the role of regional elections," Conte said on the fringes of the EU-Arab League summit in Sharm El Sheikh.
    "They are important for Sardinia and they give some electoral food for thought but I do not think consequences for the national government can derive from it". Labour and Industry Minister Di Maio echoed those sentiments.
    "Nothing changes for the government," he said.
    "I don't see any problems. "Obviously we don't have the official figures but we are positive because, for the first time, we are going to have regional councillors in Sardinia".
    League leader Matteo Salvini said Monday that "from the general election to today if there is one sure thing it is that out of six electoral consultations, the League wins 6-0 against the Democratic Party (PD). "Also in Sardinia, after Friuli, Molise, Trento, Bolzano and Abruzzo, the citizens have chosen to let the League govern. "And like in Abruzzo, in Sardinia too it is the first time we have run in the regional elections." photo: Solinas (R) and Zedda