Romans will discover tonight whether the Eternal City has elected its first right-wing mayor since the fall of Fascism. The balance of power was held last night by an antipolitics movement led by a comedian, amid a lower than expected turnout on the first day of run-off polls. Ballots close at 3pm today. The two main candidates are Francesco Rutelli, 54, of the centre-left Democratic Party, already twice mayor from 1993 to 2001, and Gianni Alemanno, 50, of the post-Fascist Alleanza Nazional (National Alliance) Party. Mr Alemanno’s group is part of the new Popolo della Libertà (Freedom Party movement led by the media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, which won the general election this month.
Appunti di un anonimo italiano
28/4/2008
