Giorgia Meloni suffers her first defeat at the polls since taking office in Italy

In Italy, with only three thousand votes difference, the centre-left opposition won the centre-right government of Giorgia Meloni. for the first time in 75 years the governorship of the Sardinia region. And it was a woman, also for the first time, the winner: Alessandra Todde. She obtained 45.4% of the votes after careful scrutiny against the conservative Paolo Truzzu, candidate for Prime Minister, who added 45%.

Todde was voted for above all in the most populous centres. Only 54.4% (758,848 voters) went to the polls. Despite the small difference in votes between the two coalitions, Its political consequences can be important.

The defeated conservative candidate belongs to Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy (HdI), which isIn a year and a half of government he has not lost any local elections and Giorgia Meloni consolidated her power at the head of the government.

Statements were expected from Meloni, who limited herself to congratulating the winner Alessandra Todde and signing a statement together with her centre-right allies, the deputy minister Antonio Tajani, of Forza Italia, the party founded by Silvio Berlusconi, and the boss of the Lega Matteo Salvini. .

It states: “We must think together to evaluate the possible mistakes made that led to the defeat. We will continue to work, learning from our defeats and our victories.”

While the liberal-conservative Forza Italia party garnered 6.3% of the vote, the populist Matteo Salvini party was reduced to a disappointing 3.8% of the vote.

There is no shortage of rumors according to which there were groups controlled by Salvini who voted for the opposition candidate, causing a defeat that puts Giorgia Meloni in difficulty, the protagonist of several clashes with her populist partner Salvini. There is no evidence of this trip but it is talked about.

Center-left agreement

The centre-left’s victory is the result of the agreement between the Democratic Party led by Elly Schlein and the 5 Star Movement, whose leader is the former prime minister Giuseppe Conte.

Both embraced the new president of the Sardinia Region, Alessandr Todde. The leader of the Democratic Party (18.5% in the polls), the first opposition party, was also particularly celebrated, because Elly Schlein had been elected a year ago. In turn, former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stated that the alliance of the 5 Star Movement (16.6%) with the Democrats transformed Tuesday into “an unforgettable day”.

“The wind changes. Some didn’t even bet we would get this far. What is emerging is above all a victory for the Sardinians”, explained the leader of the Democratic Party. “One thing is certain. The alternative to this government exists. We could not wait for a better reason to celebrate this victory of the match. “We have shown that the right can be beaten, ”he said.

He added: “Giorgia Meloni lost, who forcefully imposed Truzzu and Matteo Salvini also lost.”

In turn, Conte, of M5Estrellas, said that “this is the wind blowing from Sardinia towards the continent. This means that if we manage to build a serious, credible and convincing project for citizens we will be able to be competitive and win.”

Sarcastically alluding to the thousands of posters posted in the streets and squares of Sardinian cities with the prime minister’s face, he said that so much exposure “is a personal defeat for Meloni”.

Since a year ago, when she won the political elections and was proclaimed prime minister by the Italian Parliament, Giorgia Meloni has consolidated a solid majority which brings his party to 2.8%. With his allies from Forza Italia and Salvini’s League he registers a solid majority.

The result in Sardinia, for the first time, alters the popularity results of Meloni, who this year has achieved a very important international presence, as interim president in 2024 of the Group of Seven, the most industrialized countries, which are the United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain.