Italy: PM expresses disappointment over election results in two regions

Rome: A left-wing alliance won two regional elections in Italy, according to final results released Tuesday, giving it six areas nationwide against the 13 held by the right and far right.

The coalition kept hold of Emilia-Romagna and took back Umbria, both traditionally leftish bastions, in the elections on Sunday and Monday.

“I am obviously disappointed by this result,” said far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil.

“We must always accept and listen to what the voters say — they did give in recent years the victory to the right in legislative and European elections and in 11 regional elections out of 14, so I am still very optimistic about the approval of citizens. From time to time, not winning can help us stay grounded,” she said.

The ballots in central Italy were marked by a record-low turnout, with just under half of voters staying away from the polls.

The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said the results showed the need for a united opposition front.

In Emilia-Romagna, a centre-left alliance won 56 percent of the vote, 16 points ahead of the right’s candidate.

A centre-left coalition also took back control of Umbria, beating the candidate of the hard-right by 51 percent to 45.

Umbria was the second region after Sardinia that has unseated the right-wing incumbent since Meloni’s rise to power in late 2022.

PD leader Elly Schlein, welcomed the “collective victory”, saying “it shows us the way forward to build an alternative to the parties of the right”.

Meloni wished the incoming regional authorities “good luck”.