Former industry minister Carlo
Calenda's Azione party, which is in the opposition at the
national level, said Monday that it would support the
centre-right candidate, incumbent Governor Vito Bardi, in the
regional elections that will be held in Basilicata on April 21
and 22.
The decision highlights the difficulties Italy's opposition
parties are experiencing with efforts to try to find unity to
put up a challenge to the right/centre-right alliance made up of
Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) party,
Transport Minister Matteo Salvini's League and Foreign Minister
Antonio Tajani's Forza Italia (FI).
Several commentators, such as ex-premier and former European
Commission president Romano Prodi, have said that the only way
to beat the Meloni-led alliance is for all the opposition
parties to form a broad coalition featuring the 5-Star Movement
(M5S), the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and centrist groups
like Azione.
But so far such efforts have had limited success.
Local Azione officials said the decision to back Bardi came
after the actions of the PD and M5S showed that they wanted to
keep their party out of the reformist coalition in the southern
region, amid turmoil within the centre-left regarding its
candidate.
The PD, M5S and the Green-Left Alliance (AVS) said Sunday that
its candidate would be Piero Marrese, the president of the
province of Matera, after their former candidate, Domenico
Lacerenza, pulled out.
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