League loses 'holy' fief of Pontida

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 10 - The rightwing League party has lost its 'holy' fief of Pontida near Bergamo, where it has been holding its semi-mystical annual national rallies since 1990 marking the 1167 Oath of Pontida setting up the Lombard League against Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
    League candidate and outgoing mayor Pierguido Vanall was beaten by the representative of a civic list, Davide Cantù.
    The League came third among government parties in the EU elections behind Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani's post Berlusconi Forza Italia (FI), after long being the undisputed second-placed member of the coalition.
    To make mater worse, founder and former leader Umberto Bossi, who set up the Pontida event, voted for an FI candidate. (ANSA).