MILAN (AP) – Italian Premier Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party claimed victory Monday in five of seven regions that voted for new leaders, but the real winner was the anti-Europe and once-regional Northern League that showed strong gains nationally.
The vote Sunday was marred by low turnout, with just half of eligible voters turning out on what was for many a long holiday weekend.
The Northern League, led by Matteo Salvini, won handily in the northeastern region Veneto, its traditional turf. It also backed a candidate from Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party in Liguria, securing his victory in the northwestern region that has long been a Democratic Party stronghold.
Salvini’s showing put him in position to claim leadership of the center-right from a weakened Berlusconi, said Wolfango Piccoli, a political analyst at Teneo Intelligence. Berlusconi’s political fortunes have been weakened by a tax fraud conviction.
“The result shows the emergence of a new leader on the center-right: Salvini,” Piccoli said. “There are basically two Matteos in Italian politics. Matteo Renzi and Matteo Salvini.”