Updated January 25th, 2020 at 13:43 IST
Salvini seeks power in Rome through regional win
While winning Emilia-Romagna would be heavy on symbolism, Salvini's real goal is to use a victory to destabilise the weak coalition in Rome, and take power.
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Italy's League party leader Matteo Salvini is betting the road to Rome runs through Emilia-Romagna.The right-wing populist leader is campaigning hard for his League to take over the wealthy northern region which has been a left-wing stronghold since World War II.
While winning Emilia-Romagna would be heavy on symbolism, Salvini's real goal is to use a victory to destabilise the weak coalition in Rome, and take power."If the League should win in Emilia-Romagna for sure the government will have a crisis,'' said Emiliana De Blasio, a professor of sociology at Rome's Luiss University.
Despite favourable job ratings and a strong local economy, Democratic Party incumbent Stefano Bonaccini has found himself in the role of underdog in the regional vote.His opponent is a little-known League politician, Lucia Borgonzoni, who lost the 2016 Bologna mayoral race.
But it is Salvini, the firebrand former interior minister, who has been the face of the League's campaign - so much so that a growing grass-roots movement, the Sardines, was born in Bologna in an effort to counter what they see as Salvini's anti-institution, anti-migrant, race-biting rhetoric.
More than 40,000 Sardines activists gathered in Bologna this weekend in a bid to halt Salvini's rise.The League is also expected to win another regional vote on Sunday, in Calabria, where Salvini was elected senator in 2018.The League's growing strength in Emilia-Romagna was already clear in last year's European elections, when it beat the Democratic Party by 2.5%.
''I hope that what comes out is a strong desire to keep the right out of Emilia Romagna,'' said Luisa Volpelli, an organiser of the Sardines in the region.Thursday evening both Salvini and the Sardines held competing rallies in the town of Bibbiano.Salvini's candidate Borgonzoni told the crowd "we need work together to free our land."
Speaking at a final rally in the town of Bibbiano, Sardines' spokesperson Mattia Santori compared the League to other European right-wing gains.While a League victory cannot prompt the government to fall automatically, the 5-Star Movement-Democratic Party coalition that was put together to block Salvini's clumsy power grab this summer remains shaky.
The outcome of Sunday's vote in Emilia-Romagna could well turn on who the 5-Star Movement's voters back - left with a weak last-minute candidate of their own - and how strong turnout is in rural areas.
(Image Credit: AP)
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Published January 25th, 2020 at 13:43 IST