The former head of the International
Monetary Fund's financial bureau Carlo Cottarelli on Wednesday
agreed to run in the September 25 general election for the
centre-left alliance of the Democratic Party (PD) and More
Europe (+E).
"I have accepted the PD and More Europe's offer to stand in the
election," said the 67-year-old economist from Cremona, who was
briefly tapped to try to form a government after initially
inconclusive elections in 2018.
Cottarelli said the centre left's adversary, the
right/centre-right alliance led by post-fascist Brothers of
Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni "offers a conservative vision"
of society.
Meloni, who is running with the anti-migrat League of former
interior minister Matteo Salvini and the centre-right Forza
Italia (FI) party of three-time former premier and media mogul
Silvio Berlusconi, has called for a "naval blockade" to stop
migrants arriving in Italy, the legality of which has been
questioned.
PD leader and former premier Enrico Letta said Cottarelli would
be a "spearhead in the election campaign".
He said the economist, a popular and authoritative commentator
on TV, would give Italians "the feeling that they are in good
hands".
Letta argued that the choice of a centrist economist as a
leading candidate did not contradict the PD's alliance with two
leftwing parties, Italian Left (SI) and Green Europe (EV).
He said the PD's aim was to continue to "grow our appeal" on the
left and in the centre.
SI on Wednesday announced that two other well-known media
figures, Ilaria Cucchi and Aboubakar Soumahoro, would be
standing in its alliance with EV.
Cucchi has gained a platform with her fight for justice in the
police brutality death of her brother Stefano.
Ivorian-Italian trade unionist Soumahoro has risen to prominence
in fighting for the rights of the marginalised, especially the
victims of slave labour and gang masters.
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