Sardinian elections to test Meloni-Salvini balance of power

The upcoming election for a new regional governor in Sardinia is likely to have repercussions at a national level, as both centre-right and centre-left candidates are currently neck-and-neck.

The regional presidency of Sardinia has four candidates in the race for the top job, but only two have a real chance of winning: the mayor of Cagliari, Paolo Truzzu, who is close to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (Fratelli d’Italia/ECR), and the centre-left candidate, Alessandra Todde, who has managed to win the support of the two main left-wing parties: Partito Democratico (S&D) and former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s 5 Star Movement.

If Todde wins, it will be a major defeat for Meloni, who insisted on putting forward Truzzu instead of Sardinia’s former governor Christian Solinas of Matteo Salvini’s Lega (ID).

The dispute over the choice of candidate was lengthy, and in the end, Salvini had to give in to Meloni’s pressure in favour of Truzzu.

Meloni-Salvini power game within coalition escalates

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia and Forza Italia voted against a proposal tabled by government partner Matteo Salvini’s Lega to have three instead of the current maximum two terms for regional governors and mayors of certain municipalities, with Lega already asking parliament to deliver an opinion on the matter.

On the other hand, if Truzzu wins, Meloni will have conquered a region and dealt a blow to Salvini in the run-up to the European elections in June, while it is still unkown whether the prime minister will be able to bring her party’s EU list to the desired 30%.

As well as affecting the balance of the right-wing majority in government, the Sardinian vote will also impact the choice of candidates for the next regional elections. The first is Veneto, which has been governed by Luca Zaia (League) for almost 10 years and which Meloni wants to conquer as a rich and productive region in northern Italy.

However, to build a consensus ahead of the June vote, Salvini is planning to nominate General Roberto Vannacci, who has been in the media spotlight following the publication of his book ‘The world upside down and being investigated for fraud, embezzlement and incitement to racial hatred.

The timeliness of the investigation, in the run-up to the European elections, is seen by many as a key factor in discrediting the general, who is the best card Salvini can play to achieve a decent result in June.

(Federica Pascale | Euractiv.it)

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