Italy's opposition leader Elly Schlein has viewed the victory of social democratic candidates in the local elections as a national political event and also claimed it as a personal success. She has good reasons for both interpretations.
“From Florence to Bari, from Campobasso to Perugia, from Potenza to Cagliari, the cities have punished the ruling right-wing coalition of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni,” said Schlein on Monday evening at the Social Democrats' party headquarters in Rome. And with a view to the landslide victory of the left-wing candidate in Bari in Apulia with a 40 percentage point lead over his right-wing challenger, she added: “They moved heaven and earth there to portray us as a rogue party. But I faced the challenge and fought bravely: despite all the accusations, we won and the right lost.”