The right wins both in Lombardy and Lazio, where Attilio Fontana and Francesco Rocca obtained the absolute majority of votes. The abstentionism wins, which has reached an all-time high in both Regions, a sign of growing political disaffection that shows no signs of stopping. It confirms, but does not break through Brothers of Italy, the League holds, the Democratic Party recovers something. The big ones disappointed? Third Pole and 5 Star Movement. These are the fundamental data that emerge from the ballot boxes regional elections of 2023, the first after the national vote of 25 September 2022.
Attilio Fontana and Francesco Rocca I am therefore the presidents of the Lazio and Lombardy regions, confirming the positive trail of the centre-right, which began with the national teams of 25 September.
Lombardy and Lazio elections: Fontana and Rocca obtain the absolute majority
According to SWG data, in Lombardy the outgoing president and center-right candidate Attilio Fontana would have obtained 53,5% of the preferences, while the centre-left candidate Pierfrancesco Majorino it would have stopped at 34,2%. The result of the Third Pole candidate (Azione and Italia Viva) was disappointing Letizia Moratti, which according to projections would be 10,7%. Equally overwhelming are the percentages of the projections of the Opinio Italia Consortium for Rai which give Fontana at 55,8%, Majorino at 33,3% and Letizia Moratti at 10,3%.
Lazio “changes hands”, until now governed by the Democratic Party with its former secretary Nicola Zingaretti. Here too, the victory of the centre-right is overwhelming Francesco Rocca which according to SWG reaches 54%. Instead, it is at 32,1% Alessio D'Amato, while the candidate for president of the Five Star Movement fails to grab 12% (she is at 11,4%) Donatella Bianchi. According to the third projection of the Opinio Italia Consortium for Rai, Francesco Rocca is at 52,2% and Alessio D'Amato at 34%. Bianchi is given at 12%.
Lombardy elections: Fdi grows but does not break through, holds the League, recovers the Democratic Party, Moratti flop and M5S collapse
In Lombardy Brothers of Italy it confirms itself as the first party, but the Democratic Party recovers ground compared to the regional ones and the League holds. From a political point of view, in the center-right, we must in fact point out the result of the party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni which grows to 24,1%, but does not break through. A data that is especially appreciated by the Alloy (at 16,2%), which avoided the debacle and managed to maintain the current balance of power within the Executive without risking further downsizing. Within the coalition, Forza Italy is 7,2%, the civic list "Fontana Presidente" gets 6,6%, We Moderates 1,4%. With this result, having passed the absolute majority of votes, the centre-right obtains a 60% majority bonus (48 seats).
What happened in centre-left? Compared to the national teams of 25 September, the Democratic Party recovers 2,1% and settles at 19,2%. Instead the 5 Star Movement, which in Lombardy ran together with the Democratic Party, and which reaches only 4,2% of the votes (it was 7,3% on 25 September). At 4,6% also civic pact for Majorino, at 3,9% the Greens.
Bad too ithe Third Pole, which stops at 4,2%. Further on, the civic list of Letizia Moratti which obtained 5,6% of the votes. It should be noted that third place also means that Letizia Moratti will not enter the Council Lombardy region. This is because the seat for the second most voted will go to Majorino, while Moratti was not a candidate in any constituency.
Lazio elections: Fdi over 30%, Pd around 20%
Even in Lazio Brothers of Italy it is confirmed as the first party with 31,6% of the preferences. In the centre-right it follows Forza Italy to 10,2% which bypasses the Alloy stops at 8,8%. Overall, the coalition in support of Rocca gets 55% of the votes.
In the center-left it should be noted that, compared to Lombardy, in Lazio the coalition had a different conformation: outside the 5 Star Movement, inside the Third Pole of Calenda and Renzi. And so: Pd To 20,1% Action-Italia Viva To 3,4% Greens-Italian Left at 2,5%. In total, the centre-left coalition stops at 32,1%.
It loses a lot of ground compared to the national teams and stops below 10% (at 9%). Movement 5 Stars, which in Lazio ran together with the Polo Progressista (1,3%). The coalition in support of Bianchi obtained a total of 11,3% of the votes.
Turnout at historic lows in both Lombardy and Lazio
The center-right wins, but abstentionism wins out. The data on the turnout can be described as "dramatic". In Lombardia only 41,6% of voters voted, more than 30% less than in the regional elections in 2018, when the turnout was 73,8%. It makes it even worse Lazio, where the turnout stops at 37,2%. This is the lowest figure ever. In 2018, when we voted together with the policies, the turnout was 66,55%. It's hard to believe the data from Rome: in the capital the turnout is 33,11%, against 63,11% in the previous regional elections in 2018. In the last municipal elections in Rome in October 2021, 48,54% went to vote in the first round and in the second round 40,68% of those entitled.
The comments of the winners
It was a “team victory, carried out in a cohesive manner” by the whole coalition: this is how the president of Lombardy explained Attilio Fontana “I am satisfied that citizens have understood our ability to face difficult and complicated moments,” he added. “The first feeling is the joy for the Lombards who have understood our work”. “Democracy exists, because the moment there is an expression of the vote, it is fulfilled. We need to stop delegitimizing politics, I think it's the most serious aspect for which we are all responsible. Politics must be evaluated for the role it must play within a democracy”. "We must try to be closer to the citizens to make them understand that their vote is important in any case - he concludes - I think that this good result is due to the fact that I have always dialogued with all the components of the Region".
“It was a short but intense race – he said Francesco Rocca -. Now the sense of responsibility prevails which is enormous, we need to revive a distant health system that mortifies citizens. The abstentionists then emphasized that 10 years of the centre-left have alienated citizens. We will work to restore trust and participation".
The reactions of political leaders
“Congratulations to Francesco Rocca and Attilio Fontana for the clear victory of these regional elections, sure that both will give their best to honor the vote and the mandate received by the citizens of Lazio and Lombardy. An important and significant result that consolidates the compactness of the center-right and strengthens the work of the government Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Your Facebook.
"Victory. Thank you Lombardy. Thank you Lazio”, wrote the leader of the League on social networks, Matteo Salvini.
“The voters' choice was clear and unequivocal: the right wins everywhere. The center and the left have never been in a match, not even united, not even in the hypothetical wide field format. Letizia Moratti was courageous and she spent a lot, but outside the pool of votes from the Third Pole we were unable to attract consensus. The same thing happened to Alessio D'Amato, to whom all our thanks go, with respect to the pool of PD-Terzo Polo votes. As far as our list is concerned, the results were particularly penalized by the bipolar mechanism of the regional elections and by the lower presence of opinion votes. The construction of a single party of the reformist, liberal and popular center becomes even more urgent,” he wrote on Twitter the leader of Action, Carlo Calenda.
“I called the president Roll to congratulate him on the win. I will lead the opposition very seriously and fairly,” he said Alessio D'Amato, centre-left candidate for the presidency of the Lazio Region. “The general fact is that the long wave of policies has prevailed. The data for Lombardy and Lazio are very similar. The real losers – he added – are the Five Stars, I think Conte will have to reflect on the choices he has made”.
“In a particularly complicated political framework for us and with the wind clearly against us – he declared the Pd secretary, Enrico Letta – the Democratic Party obtains a more than significant result, demonstrates its coalition effort and rejects the challenge of M5S and the Third Pole. The repeated attempt to replace us as the main force of the opposition has failed. The takeover bid against the Democratic Party has hurt those who have attempted it. We hope that this result finally demonstrates to M5S and Third Pole that the opposition must be made to the government and not to the Democratic Party. The Pd remains solidly the second political force and the first party of the opposition”.
It was "a clear victory for the right", "the Third Pole should reflect on the choice that led to support Letizia Moratti" and "not having a party leader at national level did not help us", explains the centre-left and M5s candidate Pierfrancesco Majorino to the Lombard regionals. "Not having a national leadership has forced us to always do more - he added - the regret remains of having presented the candidate two months before the vote".
"Today's defeat is in continuity with that of the policies of last September 25, where a reduced Pd and a divided progressive field give another victory to the right, even when it is in difficulty", says the candidate for the secretariat of the Pd, Stefano Bonaccini. “We must close this chapter and open a new one, where the Democratic Party is once again central and attractive. I believe that the members' vote these days is already a sign of the desire for change and I am convinced that the primaries of 26 February will give a further push in this direction”.
