Giorgia Meloni appears satisfied, commenting yesterday on the outcome of the local election vote that involved 595 municipalities and 13 provincial capitals for a turnout of 59.03 percent. "The result of the vote is a further boost to the government's action," the Prime Minister said, "The voters' consensus spurs us to accelerate on the implementation of the program of economic, social and institutional reforms. There is a different perception of the results in the words of PD Secretary Elly Schlein, who expressed optimism for the second round of the municipal elections. "The PD is in excellent health. We are ready to take the run-up to the runoffs," the Dem leader told a press conference. On alliances, however, she did not mince words: "We need to do serious work that responds to the people. My clear preference is to build an alternative to the governing right-wingers". So far, there are four out of six capital municipalities won by the center-right, namely Sondrio, Treviso, Latina, and Imperia, while the center-left gets Brescia and Teramo. The victory of the civic candidate in Brescia, Laura Castelletti, who also had the support of Azione and PD, stands out. As an outgoing deputy mayor as early as March, she was in fact already serving as mayor, following Emilio Del Bono's election as regional councilor. In Latina, on the other hand, a woman will take office as mayor for the first time, namely Maria Eleonora Celentano, supported by Fratelli d'Italia, Lega, Matilde Celentano Sindaco list, Udc-Dc and Forza Italia. In Imperia, continuity wins, with former Minister Claudio Scajola reconfirmed as mayor in the first round against his opponent Ivan Bracco, supported by the center-left. The center-right is also confirmed in Treviso, where Mario Conte returns mayor of a city that the League has led for 20 years. Also in the case of Teramo, outgoing mayor Gianguido D'Alberto, supported by the center-left and the 5-Star Movement, wins by reconfirmation. Finally, the center-right coalition won in Sondrio, with 58 percent won by Marco Scaramellini. Among the victories that attracted media attention, however, was that of Culture Ministry Undersecretary Vittorio Sgarbi, elected mayor for the fourth time in the fourth different municipality, namely Arpino (Frosinone).
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