Here comes the test on the territories. On Sunday and Monday, voting takes place in just under 600 municipalities. In Sicily and Sardinia the polls will open the following week, on 28 and 29 May: there are another 200 cities. In all, just under six and a half million voters will be called to choose the mayor.
For the center-right, the goal is to confirm the long wave of the September vote, of the victory in the policies that brought Giorgia Meloni to the government. For the centre-left, the examination is twofold. One is on the Pd-M5s alliance, at least in those municipalities where the agreement was reached: out of 17 capitals to vote, the yellow-red coalition runs in six. The other is on the Elly Schlein effect. "This appointment - said in recent days the head of Local Authorities of the Democratic Party, Davide Baruffi - can give a sense of reversal of the trend with respect to policies".
The municipalities considered tests are Ancona and Brescia, which the center-right hopes to wrest from the center-left. But also Vicenza, which the center-left with the Third Pole hopes to take away from the center-right. The comings and goings of leaders up and down Italy at rallies confirms the weight that political forces give to the appointment. As well as that certain ferment of the last hours on issues more directly related to everyday life, such as the expensive rents, with visits to the boys camped in tents in front of the faculties: Giuseppe Conte and Elly Schlein went to the Sapienza University of Rome. During the election campaign, the center-right fielded the leaders of the government, deploying the three points.
Prime Minister and FdI leader Meloni, Deputy Prime Minister and League leader Matteo Salvini and Forza Italia Deputy Prime Minister and coordinator Antonio Tajani were on stage together in Ancona on Monday. They reply in Brescia, at the end of the electoral campaign. Schlein and Conte, on the other hand, went on separate tours, without crossing paths even when the agendas included rallies in the same cities and on the same day. The PD secretary closes in Tuscany: Pisa and Siena, both governed by the center-right. While Conte closes in Puglia: Altamura, Ostuni and Brindisi. The choice of the center-right of unitary initiatives in Ancona and Brescia is not accidental. Ancona is the only regional capital to vote. The city is historically a red stronghold, but this time it is considered contestable: Daniele Silvetti, of Forza Italia, challenges the outgoing councilor Ida Simonella, supported by the center-left and Third Pole. Same goal of the center-right in Brescia: win with the League Fabio Rolfi and snatch it from the center-left, which runs with the Third Pole and lines up Laura Castelletti. Situation reversed in Vicenza: Giacomo Possamai, of the Democratic Party, challenges the outgoing mayor Francesco Rucco, right-wing civic.
The capitals where the center-right won in the last elections are 10: Vicenza, Sondrio, Treviso, Terni, Imperia, Pisa, Massa, Siena, Ragusa and Catania. Six in which the center-left won: Teramo, Ancona, Brescia, Brindisi, Latina and Trapani. In Syracuse the outgoing mayor is of Action. Pd and M5S will challenge together the center-right candidates in Brindisi, Latina, Pisa, Teramo, Catania and Syracuse. The centre-left and third poles will be allied with Ancona, Brescia and Vicenza. No coalition sees M5S and Third Pole together. Even Latina will be kept an eye on: Damiano Coletta, who snatched it from the center-right, runs again, after the commissionership of the Municipality. M5S and Pd are together: "We are joyful that both the civic lists and of course the M5S have gathered around the project," Schlein said at a rally. "To win - reiterated in these days the head of local authorities of the Democratic Party, Baruffi - we need to build alliances, a framework of a new center-left, which returns to being competitive to beat the right in the polls". The center-right tries to reconquer Latina with Matilde Celentano.