Italy's League Re-elects Salvini as Leader With About Two-Thirds of Delegate Votes
Italy's League party, a member of the ruling coalition, re-elected its leader Matteo Salvini at an extraordinary congress on Sunday, October 25, despite the party's sliding poll ratings. Salvini won roughly two-thirds of the votes from the 705 delegates attending the congress; his sole opponent, Massimo Garavaglia, received about one-fifth.
Salvini, 53, unexpectedly called the extraordinary congress in September, a move analysts saw as an attempt to shore up his authority ahead of a general election due next year. He said the first item on his agenda would be approval of Italy's 2027-2029 budget bill on Tuesday, and that with the economic situation difficult, it was time to question whether Italy should keep sending money and weapons to Ukraine.
Salvini has led the League since 2013 and helped it achieve a record 34% of the vote in the 2019 European Parliament election. Recent polls, however, put the League below 5%, behind coalition ally Forza Italia, while National Future, a new far-right group formed in February by League dissidents, is approaching 9%.
Source: GSM·USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：萨尔维尼2022年在奎里纳莱宫与总统马塔雷拉握手（资料图）。图片：意大利总统府，Attribution
