Rome's conservative mayor loses to center-left

ROME (AP) ? Media mogul Silvio Berlusconi's conservative party suffered stinging losses Monday to center-left rivals in all the main mayoral runoff elections across Italy, including a particularly lopsided defeat in Rome, the nation's capital, where the ex-premier had personally campaigned for the unsuccessful incumbent.

The string of triumphs in municipal races proved a sorely needed morale boost for Premier Enrico Letta's Democratic Party, which was compelled to ask Berlusconi's forces to help form a coalition government after months of bickering and nasty internal power struggles weakened the center-left.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno quickly conceded defeat in his bid for a second term, glumly acknowledging a landslide victory by center-left challenger Ignazio Marino. With ballots from practically all polling stations counted, Marino had won about 64 percent of the vote and Alemanno 36 percent.

Alemanno told reporters that he had congratulated Marino, a 58-year-old surgeon who performed liver transplants for years in the U.S. and Sicily before he jumped into politics in 2006. In his laconic style, the former neo-Fascist street fighter, who in 2008 became Rome's first right-wing mayor in decades, described the losses by Berlusconi's People of Freedom party as "not positive."

"It's obvious that the political reflection will be loud and clear," Alemanno said, referring to national as well as local leadership of Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party. But he thanked Berlusconi for campaigning for him.

Alemanno ran Rome with an aloof style, and during the campaign was dogged by patronage scandals tainting several municipal agencies.

In his victory speech, Marino said he would aim for a "personal" style of administering the city of 2.8 million people and promised that under his tenure, city hall, atop the ancient Capitoline Hill, would be a place where "merit is rewarded."

Letta's Democratic Party swept all significant races in the runoffs, including in the northern town of Brescia, a traditionally conservative stronghold where a campaign rally led by Berlusconi saw such tension between the two camps that riot police had to separate supporters on both sides.

The Democrats were the largest vote-getter overall in national elections in February, but failed to win control of both chambers of Parliament. After weeks of political gridlock in a country impatient for a new government that could set to work on reviving a recession-ridden economy, the Democrats had to put aside pride and invite Berlusconi's forces to join a coalition.

At Alemanno's subdued campaign headquarters, a close political aide to Berlusconi, Maurizio Gasparri, was asked by Sky TG24 TV if local People of Freedom candidates might have paid the price in a party dominated by the media mogul's persona.

"We need to be better rooted in the territory," Gasparri replied, calling the mayoral race defeats "a negative judgment upon which we must reflect."

Referring to his Democratic Party, Marino said he hoped his victory in Rome would be the start of a recovery of "moral leadership" for the entire party. The party's new leader, Guglielmo Epifani, a former union leader, told Sky that if his party capitalizes "intelligently" on the wins, the center-left can be reinvigorated.

The mayoral races saw a marked worsening of voter apathy compared to the parliamentary elections and even the first round of balloting two weeks earlier.

Rome saw a particularly dismal turnout. Just under 45 percent of eligible voters went to the polls in the capital, down from 52.8 percent in the first round.

Opinion polls have shown a steady dip in public confidence that politicians are up to the task of governing them and tackling stubborn challenges, including rising joblessness.

Marino said the low turnout in the capital reflects all those "disillusioned by the ruling class."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/romes-conservative-mayor-loses-center-left-163545091.html

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