Elections in Italy: Giuseppe Conte comforted, Matteo Salvani sanctioned

In Italy, the Covid has not weakened democracy.

Would he have put things back in order?

In the elections of September 20 and 21, Italians voted overwhelmingly and favored candidates who have proven their worth.

But have they moved away from the sirens of populism, as the director of

Maurizio Molinari

hopes

?

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These elections brought together several ballots.

First, a referendum on the reduction by a third of the number of parliamentarians, to which the Italians answered yes, to 69.6%.

An “

vote

which did not come as a surprise.

On the other hand, this came from regional elections in seven regions: in Veneto, Liguria, Campania, Tuscany, in Marche, Puglia and Val d'Aosta.

Carried by the polls which announced a tidal wave of the right, it bet on a "

Massive attack against the Conte government.

If Campania seemed acquired to the outgoing Democratic candidate, Vincenzo De Luca, the Marches, Puglia and above all Tuscany seemed ready to switch to the right.

In fact, this has torn only one region off the left, the Marche, while Tuscany and Puglia have remained true to their history.

Far from a defeat of the left, it is a parity of 3 to 3 which came out of the polls.

The sanction vote did not take place.

Where did the surprise come from?

In fact, as in Emilia-Romagna in January, the gathering of traditional voters worked, both in Tuscany and in Puglia.

Despite the Covid, we voted overwhelmingly to block the right.

In Tuscany, where the voters of Florence, Prato, Pisa and Siena were strongly mobilized, the democratic candidate Eugenio Giani, who appeared not very charismatic, even won more than 860,000 votes, including 100,000 on his name alone.

Thus obtaining an 8-point lead, at 48.6%, over her competitor, Susanna Ceccardi of the League.

And in Puglia, Michele Emiliano, to whom we recognize his good management of the Covid crisis, also benefited from a massive mobilization on his name.

He was re-elected as president, with 46.6% of the vote.

But if he ranks center left, he was no longer at the PD since 2018.

The M5S collapses

If the Democratic Party claimed victory on election night, confirming its leader Nicola Zingaretti, "

", notes the Florentine political scientist Marco Tarchi.

“

” he added.

These three regions retained by the left nevertheless reinforce the President of the Council Giuseppe Conte who, from now on, should be able to hold until the end of his term of office scheduled for 2023. A promise of stability which has lowered the interest rate differential on the debt Italian.

230,000 votes lost by the Northern League in Tuscany since the Europeans of 2019

There remain three big losers from these regions.

First, the 5 Star Movement (M5S), even if it won the referendum.

Having chosen, except in Liguria, the solo race, he collapsed everywhere.

Then Matteo Salvini.

Its candidate, Susanne Ceccardi, has largely failed in Tuscany, and the League has lost more than 230,000 votes in the region since the 2019 Europeans. The League has not made a breakthrough in the South either.

And neither in Liguria, nor in Veneto, nor in the Marches, no victory of the right is attributable to him.

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But above all, his two rivals on the right won: on the one hand, the governor of Veneto, Luca Zaia, was voted 76.7%, and his list of the Venetian League won three times more voice than the League of Salvini.

Even if he defends himself from running for a national destiny, Luca Zaia, a convinced European who hardly takes the anti-migrant flights of Salvini, could influence the new orientations of the League, by bringing it back to the autonomous North.

The other rival, who begins to embarrass Matteo Salvini, is Giorgia Meloni, who presides over the destinies of Fratelli d'Italia.

His candidate won the Marches, and his nationalist party continues to advance everywhere, despite its failure in Puglia.

Success that could lead him to some pretensions within the right-wing coalition.

Finally, the last big loser in these polls is Matteo Renzi who, a year ago, founded Italia Viva to recover the Democratic votes.

He who was counting on these elections to launch his party, made a paltry score everywhere.

In Puglia, its candidate did not make more than 2%.

Even in his Tuscan stronghold, his joint list with + Europa only had 4.48% of the vote.

Contrary to what he claimed, Democratic candidate Eugenio Giani would have won without Italia Viva.

Thus, three singular figures of Italian political life, who had upset the old balances, come out of these regions very weakened.

For the benefit of an old actor on the scene who is coming back to life despite the divisions: the Democratic Party.