PD in excellent health, optimistic for runoffs- Schlein

(see related stories on local elections) (ANSA) - ROME, MAY 16 - Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein said Tuesday that the round of local elections held in hundreds of Italian municipalities on Sunday and Monday showed that the opposition, centre-left party is in "excellent health".
    Centre-right coalitions won four of the 13 provincial capitals up for grabs, Imperia, Sondrio, Treviso and Latina, while two, Teramo and Brescia, went to the centre left.
    The other seven, Ancona, Brindisi, Terni, Vicenza, Massa, Pisa and Siena, will have runoff votes in two weeks' time after none of the candidates managed to win over 50% of the ballots cast in the first round.
    "We won in the first round in Brescia and Teramo, two important cities," Schlein told a news conference at the PD's headquarters in Rome.
    "In Brescia we won with moderate allies, in Teramo with the 5-Star Movement.
    "We are very satisfied with the outcome of the first round of the local elections.
    "We are looking to the second round with great optimism" added the 38-year-old, who was elected the PD's first woman leader in February after the party fared badly at last year's general election won by Premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition.
    "We got back up in this round of elections. We are moving forward with momentum.
    "We are convinced that we can win in the cities (holding runoffs) in two week's time.
    "The right is running out of steam "We saw so much enthusiasm during the election campaign - there's a new hope". (ANSA).