PM Meloni Tightens Grip On Rightist Bloc With Strong Regional Election

The incumbent centre-right/right-wing bloc of parties have secured re-election in the northeastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The result of the 2-3 Apr election, confirmed in the last 24 hours, mirrors other elections nationwide in that the populist League has lost ground to its coalition ally, the conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) of PM Giorgia Meloni.

• The governing coalition at national level has become increasingly dominated by Meloni, whose party remains the most popular in the country. Both the League and centre-right Forza Italia have voiced objections to some of Meloni's policy stances, but have not followed through in voting against them.
• In Friuli-Venezia Giulia the regional branch of Deputy PM Matteo Salvini's League retained its position as the largest party in the right-leaning bloc, it only holds one seat more than Meloni's FdI and lost its overall plurality to the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
• Regional President Massimiliano Fedriga becomes the first in regional history to win re-election, but is likely to have to make more concessions to his FdI allies in policy terms. The regional branch of the League won nine seats, down from 17 previously. The FdI increased its seat share from two to eight, while Forza Italia fell from five to three seats. The coalition won a total 28 of the 46 seats in the regional parliament.