Happy coalition

Lazio and Lombardy regional elections, Meloni: “stronger government”. The premier feels more muscular; she says it expressly: it is “an important and significant result that consolidates the compactness of the centre-right and strengthens the work of the government”. The first to rejoice on Twitter is Matteo Salvini, who writes: “victory. Thank you, Lombardy. Thank you, Lazio “. Antonio Tajani follows him with: “There is a very consistent success of the centre-right in Lazio and also in Lombardy”. And he comments hotly: “This means that it is also a vote of confidence in the centre-right government; we are satisfied”. Francesco Lollobrigida speaks for Brothers of Italy: “If confirmed, this is a higher figure even compared to the political elections, achieved three months ago. An appreciation that grows “. The coordinator of the blue party, Forza Italia in Lombardy, Licia Ronzulli, commenting on the data, observes: “We are confirmed in Lombardy, we conquer Lazio. In both cases, the centre-right is voted for by one voter out of two. Truly an excellent result for the government majority, whose work is rewarded “.

The opposition

The parties emerge overall weakened. The Democratic Party holds more than the others in list voting but loses Lazio, where it had governed for ten years. The power of the president of the Lazio region, Zingaretti, put his party ahead of other opposition parties but lost against the strong centre-right…

The Third Pole obtains a modest result, around 4%, in Lazio, where it has allied with the centre-left, but also comes out weakened by the Lombard result,

Even the 5 Stars retreat confirms the trend that sees them in difficulty in the regional and administrative rounds. There was a centre-left in two versions: the Giallorossi embodied by Majorino, and the centrist one, which saw D’Amato’s candidacy in Lazio. Unfortunately, neither of them led to the desired results. However, it does not seem to be a problem of the candidates but rather a strategic problem:

In a one-round competition, such as the regional one, the divided centre-left cannot compete against a united centre-right. And it could not compete…

Electoral turnout record

The overall voter participation rate is so low that it makes electoral analysis difficult: abstentions are no longer just the leading party but the vast majority of citizens. With that level of disaffection, elections become something of a challenge.

In this case, the turnout data should alarm anyone. In Lazio, compared to 66.6% of the last regional elections, only 37.19% voted this year: the worst figure ever. The turnout is particularly harmful in the capital. And in Lombardy: 41.67% is the third worst turnout result in the history of regional elections in Italy, with negative peaks in Mantua, Sondrio, Pavia, and Varese. Only a few months ago, on the occasion of the political elections, in Lombardy, the turnout had exceeded 70%, five years, it reached 73.1%.

It cannot be said that abstention has affected only one political party, considering that the balance of power compared to the political vote of a few months ago does not seem to vary too much: we are faced with a widespread and transversal political disillusionment, which also affects regions with a historically very high voter turnout rate.

According to Francesco Lollobrigida, the fault lies with the centre-left: “The abstention is attributable to the opposition; they don’t have a proposal”. On the other hand, Carlo Calenda, leader of Azione, admits defeat and goes beyond self-criticism: “The centre and the left have never been in a match, not even united, not even in the hypothetical wide field format…”.