Local Elections Put Centre-Right Parties In Spotlight

Local elections will take place in certain areas and cities of Italy on 12 June alongside a series of referenda on judicial matters. Most of the focus will turn on the mayoral elections in Italy's fifth, sixth, and eleventh most populous cities: Palermo, Genoa, and Verona.

• Palermo's election has gained some notoriety due to the involvement of former governor of Sicily Salvatore Cuffaro, who was imprisoned for nearly five years in 2011 for aiding and abetting the Sicilian mafia, the Cosa Nostra. Cuffaro has lent his support to centre-right candidate Roberto Lagalla.
• Most of the other 25 mayoral elections are for smaller cities, ranging from the large Ligurian capital Genoa, to Oristano, the seventh-largest city on the island of Sardinia. Of these cities, 16 of 25 are under the control of centre-right coaliton members. This means they hail from the populist League, nationalist Brothers of Italy, or centre-right Forza Italia (or one of these three's regional supporters).
• A poor performance by centre-right parties, notably the League, could put pressure on the governing coalition at the federal level. Matteo Salvini's League supports PM Mario Draghi's broad coalition gov't.
• However, the League has come into frequent disagreement with coalition allies and Draghi, raising the prospect of them pulling out of the coalition and risking the collapse of the gov't. A poor electoral showing in the party's heartlands in the north could put further pressure on Salvini to pull the plug on the national gov't.