The overtaking of Fratelli d’Italia, which in the first part of the vote seemed within reach, ultimately faded away. Forza Italia, however, can celebrate the second best percentage in Italy, a growth in consensus compared to the 2022 policies and above all the now obvious election of vice president Giusi Princi.
Governor Occhiuto’s final balance, on balance, can be positive. Forza Italia comes close to 18 percent in Calabria with 115 thousand preferences (a year and a half ago it stood at 15.64 with around 112 thousand preferences) and takes second place in the region, also overtaking the 5 Star Movement which collapses compared to the political data . The first party in the region becomes the Brothers of Italy with 20.56 percent (in the political elections it came close to 19).
The president – who is also national deputy secretary of Forza Italia – had pushed hard for this round. Touring Calabria, from Reggio Calabria to Rocca Imperiale, up to the social appeal, on the eve of the vote when he transformed the European vote into a referendum on the action of his government (“write Princi on the ballot paper, I will read Occhiuto”).
OCCHIUTO: THE CALABRESANS REWARD US – «I had asked the Calabrians to give, with their vote, more strength to my regional government. The European vote in Calabria shows that the Calabrians, after two and a half years from the beginning of our experience, have appreciated the work of the centre-right coalition and ask us to move forward with renewed and greater conviction – is the comment of President Occhiuto – Forza Italia achieves a great result with 18%: we almost double the national figure of the blue movement and we are the second party in the Region. Giusi Princi, my vice president, becomes an MEP with almost 84 thousand preferences – more than 65 thousand taken in Calabria -, a figure of great value is rewarded who has supported me in these two and a half years of government at the helm of the Region and who will now go in Europe to carry forward the many requests of our territories”.
Occhiuto goes further, indicating that his entire (extended) coalition will emerge strengthened from the vote. «I would also like to highlight that compared to the 2022 political elections, the parties that make up my regional coalition, including Action, which exceeds 4% in Calabria, are improving their results. Adding together the votes of Forza Italia, Fratelli d’Italia, Lega and Azione we come close to 52% – he comments – This means that after two and a half years the parties that support the Occhiuto government are all growing and are in the majority in Calabria». As a litmus test, Occhiuto cites the result of the elections. «The opposition cannot say the same thing. With respect to politics, the 5 Star Movement collapses, and the Democratic Party, which conducted an electoral campaign with the sole topic of the systematic and personal attack against the President of the Region – says Occhiuto – records one of the lowest results in Italy ».
THE OTHER PARTIES – The European vote in Calabria then tells us of a League that is growing compared to 2022 (9% vs 5.7%) but the glories of 2019 – when it was the second party in Calabria with over 22 percent – are far away: in five years he lost over 100 thousand votes in the region. It is a fact, in any case, in line with the downsizing of the party at a national level.
The comparison with the country’s data instead shows an M5S going against the trend: Calabria, like the rest of the South, remains a stronghold of the Movement, even if the amount of consensus is halved. The comparison with the 2022 policies indicates a drop from 29 to 16. percent. The Democratic Party holds up to the policies and gains something (from 14.4 to 15.9) but is outside the national exploit, remaining well below the national average of 24 percent. It stops in fourth position, while the Dems are the leading party in the entire constituency. At the moment it is the second worst result in the country (Trentino comes last with 15.86 percent). Alleanza Verdi Sinistra does well, coming close to 6 in Calabria.
In sharp contrast, however, Renzi’s United States of Europe earned 6.18 percent (national figure 3.8) dragged onto the list by Filomena Greco who received almost 20 thousand preferences. Curiosity: Renzi’s strong man in Calabria (or former strong man) Ernesto Magorno on Sunday evening, with the counting having just begun, announced his exit from Italia Viva because he was elected president of the “L’Oro di Calabria” Association « established in Rome and aimed at promoting, making known and enhancing Calabria and its human and territorial excellence”. The two commitments, he says, are no longer reconcilable.
THE ELECTED – The official status will come with the end of the national counting, but the results and the first projections on the seats give Calabria 4 elected MEPs. A success, if we consider the region’s lower electoral weight in the constituency, generally swallowed up by Puglia and Campania. Five years ago there were two elected representatives: Ferrara, dragged by the success of the 5 Star Movement which brought a large patrol to Europe, and Nesci, who took over from Fratelli d’Italia in 2022 after the resignation of Raffaele Fitto.
Who flies to Strasbourg now? Denis Nesci he is reconfirmed: he is fourth in terms of preferences with 74 thousand votes, but in fact third because the first is Giorgia Meloni who will renounce the election. He has a guaranteed seat too Pasquale Tridico, former INPS president and leader of the 5 Star Movement, first on the list with 117 thousand votes. Avs will also take home a seat in the south: it will be Mimmo Lucano, the most voted with almost 76 million preferences. And then there is Giusi Princi, which achieves an unexpected result: third on the list with almost 84 thousand preferences, after Tajani (who will renounce) and Martusciello. The fourth, Antonella Ballone, is clearly behind, stopping at almost 42 thousand votes. Forza Italia, with 10.76% in the south, plans to reconfirm the two seats from 2019, thus guaranteeing the election of the vice president.
