International Courant
Florence has elected its first feminine mayor, Sara Funaro, after a decisive defeat by her right-wing opponent.
As a metropolis councilor with the center-left Democratic Get together (PD), her get together retained management of town with greater than 60% of the vote.
Eric Schmidt, the ex-director of the Uffizi Gallery, backed by Italy’s far-right coalition authorities, obtained 39% of the vote.
The vote accomplished a spherical of elections wherein centre-left events gained in 5 regional capitals.
Because the rely was underway, Ms. Funaro informed reporters: “I really feel the joy of all these months, the joy of being mayor of Florence.”
She devoted her victory to her grandfather Piero Bargellini, a distinguished determine in Florence referred to as the “Flood Mayor” for main restoration efforts through the lethal 1966 flood.
“We did very properly. We aren’t unhappy in any respect,” the German-born Mr Schmidt stated of the end result.
Ms Funaro’s historic victory was considered one of a collection of victories for Italy’s centre-left alliance, led by the PD.
Within the vote on Sunday and Monday, it retained management of the cities of Bergamo, in Lombardy, and Bari, in Puglia.
The alliance additionally gained Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, and Perugia, in Umbria, from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right authorities bloc.
It comes after the precise made vital positive factors within the European Parliament elections earlier this month.
In Italy, Ms Meloni elevated her get together’s vote share within the 2022 common election with 29% of the vote, whereas the PD carried out higher than hoped with 24%.
This second spherical of mayoral elections was held in 14 Italian cities with greater than 15,000 inhabitants, the place no candidate obtained greater than 50% of the votes within the first spherical, which came about alongside the EU Parliament elections.
