Italy returns to the political challenge in a new round of municipal elections

ROME, June 26 (Prensa Latina), Analysts point out today that the results of the second round of municipal elections to be held on Sunday in Italy will change the political scenarios in many of the most important places in this country at a turbulent moment.

Local media reported that the new round of voting among the candidates with the highest number of votes affects about 65 districts with more than 15,000 residents, as none of the options received more than 50 percent in the appointment last June 12.

This election is taking place in the midst of important changes, after the split that engulfed the Five Star Movement (M5) this week, and the creation of the new Together for the Future party emerging from its guts, which led the right-wing force. La Liga will occupy the parliamentary majority.

In 13 regional capitals, voters were called to the polls for the second time, including Catanzaro, Verona, Lucca, Parma, Piacenza, Viterbo, Frosinone, Alessandria, Cuneo, Monza, Como, Gorizia, and Barletta.

The duels of greatest interest will take place in the first four cities due to their political significance and the impact their results will have on the general elections scheduled for this country in May 2023.

In Verona, outgoing right-wing mayor Federico Spoarina, who received 32.7 percent of the vote in the first round, and former soccer player Damiano Tommasi, left-of-centre, who surprisingly got 39.8 of the votes and came out as the favourite.

The pulse between Spoarina and Tomasi captured the national interest, the first with the support of the Spanish League and the Italian brotherhood, a right-wing alliance that won with Forza Italia in the first round in important regional capitals such as Genoa, Il. Aquila and Palermo.

Tommasi, for his part, is mainly supported by the Democratic Party, which together with the M5S scored important victories for the center-left on June 12 in Taranto, Padua and Lodi.

Polling stations opened at 07:00 local time and will remain active until 23:00.

Vote counting will begin immediately and the results of this election are expected to be announced within a few hours.