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Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly
Schlein has reiterated her appeal for Italy's opposition parties
to come together, saying centre-left candidate Andrea Orlandi's
defeat in Sunday and Monday's regional elections in Liguria
showed it was the only way to defeat Premier Giorgia Meloni's
ruling centre-right alliance.
The PD was the individual party that did best in Liguria,
winning 28.4% of the vote, almost twice as much as Meloni's
right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) with 15%.
But the centre-left alliance as a whole came up just short,
missing what some commentators described as a 'open goal' after
former centre-right Liguria governor Giovanni Toti had to quit
due to the corruption scandal.
The poor showing of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), which won just
4.6% of the vote, half of its showing in June's European
elections, played a part in the centre-left's defeat.
"The PD gave its all," Schlein said.
"We realize that we are not enough (alone).
"We are aware of the difficulties of the others and we hope that
this result will make all the alternative forces to the Right
reflect, as it makes us, who have not spent a minute on rows or
competitions with the other opposition parties, reflect too.
"Because our opponent is the Right that we want to beat'.
Ex-premier Matteo Renzi said the defeat was down to M5S leader
Giuseppe Conte and "those who put vetoes in place lost" after
the M5S refused to be in the same alliance as his centrist
opposition Italia Viva (IV) party.
Conte, who is also a former premier, said that "we would have
lost worse" with IV in the alliance.
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