While the elections take place this Sunday, September 25 in Italy, the Democratic Party is only credited with 21% in the polls, far behind the so-called "center-right" coalition, led by the far-right candidate Giorgia Meloni. .
In the Garbatella district, south of Rome and birthplace of the populist and ultra-conservative candidate, and historic stronghold of the left and Italian communism, residents and activists take stock before the ballot.
For Bruno, 80, of whom more than 50 spent in Garbatella, this “historically anti-fascist” district was a “chance for Meloni”: “here, she had to work hard to try to get some votes.
I think that's tempered her a bit...although from what I've heard of those last few speeches, there's still definitely that right-wing soul.
I don't mean fascist,
but it has all the connotations of it, ”explains this retired firefighter, who previously campaigned for the Italian Communist Party and who will vote for the Democratic Party on Sunday.
“Garbatella has nothing to brag about having seen Meloni born here,” quips Domenico, a local resident who teaches literature and history.
“We will have to be very careful” if the 45-year-old Roman is elected, he believes.
"Investigations have shown that several members of his party, Fratelli d'Italia, belong to the worst neo-fascist branch," laments the sixty-year-old.
Tiziana, also a resident of Garbatella, cannot explain “how such a beautiful neighborhood like Garbatella could have given birth to an individual of this species”.
who previously campaigned for the Italian Communist Party and who will vote for the Democratic Party on Sunday.
“Garbatella has nothing to brag about having seen Meloni born here,” quips Domenico, a local resident who teaches literature and history.
“We will have to be very careful” if the 45-year-old Roman is elected, he believes.
"Investigations have shown that several members of his party, Fratelli d'Italia, belong to the worst neo-fascist branch," laments the sixty-year-old.
Tiziana, also a resident of Garbatella, cannot explain “how such a beautiful neighborhood like Garbatella could have given birth to an individual of this species”.
who previously campaigned for the Italian Communist Party and who will vote for the Democratic Party on Sunday.
“Garbatella has nothing to brag about having seen Meloni born here,” quips Domenico, a local resident who teaches literature and history.
“We will have to be very careful” if the 45-year-old Roman is elected, he believes.
"Investigations have shown that several members of his party, Fratelli d'Italia, belong to the worst neo-fascist branch," laments the sixty-year-old.
Tiziana, also a resident of Garbatella, cannot explain “how such a beautiful neighborhood like Garbatella could have given birth to an individual of this species”.
“We will have to be very careful” if the 45-year-old Roman is elected, he believes.
"Investigations have shown that several members of his party, Fratelli d'Italia, belong to the worst neo-fascist branch," laments the sixty-year-old.
Tiziana, also a resident of Garbatella, cannot explain “how such a beautiful neighborhood like Garbatella could have given birth to an individual of this species”.
“We will have to be very careful” if the 45-year-old Roman is elected, he believes.
"Investigations have shown that several members of his party, Fratelli d'Italia, belong to the worst neo-fascist branch," laments the sixty-year-old.
Tiziana, also a resident of Garbatella, cannot explain “how such a beautiful neighborhood like Garbatella could have given birth to an individual of this species”.
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For Gianfranco, a 68-year-old retiree, who has lived most of his life in this working-class district, the choice is clear: on Sunday, he will vote for Meloni: "left, right, center... it has nothing to do with today”, estimates this former employee who lives with a pension of 940 euros per month.
"But I think it's also our fault, on the left," tempers Martino Darelli.
At 23, this student of history and involved in helping the elderly is the youth secretary of the PD in Garbatella.
“We have not been able to respond with ideals and not ideology to the right-wing narrative, which would like working-class neighborhoods to be necessarily right-wing.
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