Final results have confirmed that the
centre-right coalition won in the first round in Genoa, Palermo
and L'Aquila, without the need for a runoff vote, in an
important set of local elections held on Sunday.
Verona, Parma and Catanzaro are set to have runoffs, with the
centre left ahead in the first two and the centre right on top
in the latter.
Of the 26 provincial capitals where votes were held, the centre
right won, or was close to winning, nine in the first round,
with the centre left taking four.
The contests in the other 13 are going to runoffs, with the
centre right ahead in six and the centre left in front in seven.
The driving force of the centre right's strong showing was
Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FDI) party, the
only major group not supporting Premier Mario Draghi's
government of national unity.
It landed 10.3% of the vote, overtaking Matteo Salvini's League,
which got 6.7%, while ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza
Italia (FI) got 4.6%.
The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) wad the individual party
to bag most votes - 17.2%.
The 5-Star Movement (M5S), which generally struggles in local
elections, did especially badly this time with just 2.1%.
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