Renato Schifani is striding towards the Presidency of the Sicily Region. In Trinacria, in addition to the political elections they decreed the triumph of Giorgia Meloni, on Sunday 25 September the citizens also voted to elect the new president of the region ei 70 deputies of the Ars.
The counting will begin at 14 pm on Monday, after the end of the counting of the ballots of the House and Senate, but according to the exit polls there would be little doubt: it will be the former president of the Senate, Renato Schifani, supported by the centre-right coalition, who will win the regional elections.
Sicily elections: Schifani towards victory
According to the Opinio exit polls for Rai, Renato Schifani should obtain a percentage of votes between 37 and 41 per cent, with a 13-point lead over the runner-up, Cateno De Luca.
The center-right therefore confirms itself at the helm of Sicily, giving a strong signal of unity after the strong frictions experienced in recent months on the possible re-nomination of the outgoing president, In the Musumeci. The latter elected in 2017 with a civic list (Diventerà Bellissima), but today the representative of the Brothers of Italy, had expressed his willingness to reapply, however encountering the stiff opposition of Lega and Forza Italia. In the end, after weeks of negotiations, the centre-right managed to agree on Schifani's name. Musumeci should "console" himself with one seat in the Senate: a few sections from the end of the ballot, in the single-member constituency of Catania, the outgoing president is ahead with 37% of the votes.
Born in Palermo, ex Dc and Forza Italia and New Centre-right, Schifani was president of the Senate from 2008 to 2013. It should be remembered that Schifani is currently on trial in Caltanissetta for criminal association and disclosure of official secrecy.
"The exit polls on Sicily, where the candidate for governor is Renato Schifani, demonstrate the vitality of Forza Italia, which will be able to guarantee Sicilians a government that lives up to their expectations," commented Forza Italia sources.
Sicily elections: surprise De Luca, Chinnici in third place
The real surprise of the Sicilian regionals is the result of the former mayor of Messina, Cateno DeLuca (supported by two regional lists, two provincial lists in Palermo and at least three lists in each of the other provinces) which should have obtained a percentage of votes between 24 and 28 percent. Known as "Scateno", a nickname attributed to him for his vehemence and for his quarrelsome ways that have also earned him numerous memes, De Luca also obtained excellent percentages in the national teams, with the South calls North party exceeding 12% both in the Senate than in the House.
Going back to the regionals, she's only third Catherine Chinnici, supported by the Democratic Party and the Centopassi list, expression of left-wing parties and movements. According to the exit polls, the MEP, daughter of the magistrate Rocco Chinnici assassinated by the mafia in 1983, would have stopped between 15,5 and 19,5 percent.
Nuccio Di Paola of the M5s would have obtained 13-17 percent. In Sicily, Pd and M5S had held historic coalition primaries, but the alliance went up in smoke after the rupture that occurred at a national level following the fall of the Draghi government.
The other two candidates running for the presidency of the Region – Gaetano Armao for the Third Pole ed Eliana Esposto for free Sicilians – both would be between 1,5 and 3,5 per cent.
