"The party is over for
populists", a group calling themselves 'sardines' for how they
pack squares around Italy against rightwing strongman Matteo
Salvini said in their manifesto Thursday.
"Dear populists, you have now realised. The party is over,"
said the manifesto entitled Welcome To The Open Sea which the
four young Bolognese leaders of the new movement, Giulia,
Andrea, Roberto and Mattia, published on Thursday.
The manifesto was published on the Facebook page of the
burgeoning movement.
With it, the four said, they aimed to coordinate and promote
all events and flash mobs across Italy like the first rally
against Salvini last week that packed 15,000 people into a
Bologna square.
"We are the sardines, and now you will find us everywhere,"
the manifesto said.
"Welcome to the open sea".
The sardines sprang up in reaction to Salvini's claim in
kicking off his campaign for January 26 regional elections in
Reggio Emilia that he wanted to "free" the region of the
centre-left Democratic Party (PD) which has ruled it for
decades.
Former interior minister Salvini is again riding high in the
polls after a blunder in which he pulled the plug on the last
coalition government with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement
(M5S), and he led the centre right to a crushing victory in
another centre-left stronghold, Umbria, last month.
Salvini had been hoping for "full powers" from the Italian
people in his bid for a snap election which was foiled by an
unprecedented alliance between the M5S and the PD.
His misstep knocked him back in the polls but he is again
riding high amid strong opposition to the M5S-PD government
budget, which he says is "all taxes", and his ever-popular
anti-migrant and law-and-order policies.
Salvini has dismissed the sardines saying he prefers "the
cats that eat them".
On Thursday he said "I like anyone who demonstrates
democratically for their ideas, but I choose my own books", when
asked about an offer from the sardines to give him some
progressive reading.
After their stunning Bologna launch the Sardines had another
successful rally in Modena at the weekend, another one in
Sorrento Thursday, and are planning events across Italy at the
weekend including Rome, Naples, Florence, Cagliari and Palermo.
Their slogan is "this city does not show allegiance to the
League", which has spread from its former northern heartlands to
popularity across Italy, becoming the country's top party.
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