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In celebration mood: election winner Eugenio Giani (r.)
Photo: CLAUDIO GIOVANNINI / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Italy's left apparently won the first big mood test in the Corona phase.
According to projections made on Monday evening, the right-wing opposition around ex-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini missed its goal of bringing about a change in Florence, a bastion of the Social Democrats (PD), in the regional election in Tuscany.
Tuscany, which has been ruled by the left for several decades, had particular symbolic power when it was voted (read more here).
Opposition leader Salvini wanted to take power in the region in central Italy for the first time with his 33-year-old candidate Susanna Ceccardi.
According to an extrapolation, it only came to about 40 percent in the two-day vote.
It was well behind the Social Democrat Eugenio Giani, who was around 48 percent of the vote in the evening.
The elections were seen as an important test for the government in Rome, which the non-party Giuseppe Conte has been leading for around a year.
Some experts had predicted heavy losses in advance for the alliance, which is dominated by social democrats and the populist five-star movement.
Now PD Regional President Vincenzo de Luca won in Campania with around 60 percent of the vote, according to the calculations.
And in Apulia, the Social Democrat Michele Emiliano then clearly triumphed over Raffaele Fitto from the Fratelli d'Italia.
In contrast, center-right candidates won in three other regions.
Approval for downsizing the parliamentary chambers
There was broad approval for the referendum held at the same time to reduce the size of the two parliamentary chambers in Rome by one third each.
According to the first counts, almost 70 percent voted yes.
The reform provides for the number of representatives in the House of Representatives to drop from 630 to 400.
In the second chamber, the Senate, in future only 200 instead of 315 people will sit.
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio of the Five Star Movement spoke of an "historic result".
His party was the driving force behind the downsizing.
The center-left coalition partners in Rome are considered to be divided on many points.
Unlike the right-wing opposition, they were unable to agree on common candidates in the elections in some regions.
Nevertheless, both parties have an interest in avoiding early elections.
The next regular parliamentary election in Italy is scheduled for 2023.
Italy has been fighting the corona pandemic since February and is one of the hardest hit countries in Europe.
Strict hygiene regulations were applied in the choice.
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as / dpa
