Establishment Parties Big Losers as Fed-Up Italians Go to Polls

Italian voters, fed up with corruption and the absence of reform of a worn-out political system, revolted with new force Monday against Establishment parties that have governed the country since World War II.

Returns from local elections in 55 cities and towns scattered across the country echoed the protest dramatically sounded in national elections last spring. “Another political earthquake,” summed up one television commentator as analysts weighed nearly complete returns Monday night.

The protest vote echoed across the political spectrum, right to left, north to south, punishing Establishment Christian Democrat and Socialist parties and benefiting opponents.

The big winner was Umberto Bossi, a right-wing, northern, populist senator who rails against bureaucratic corruption and unregulated immigration and wants to divide Italy into three federal states. “Our victory confirms that the political class has lost its legitimacy,” he said, savoring the victory of the Lega Nord (Northern League).

An anti-Mafia party called Rete, founded by Leoluca Orlando, a senator and former Palermo mayor, also ran impressively. It not only showed strength in the Italian south but also gained council seats in the north for the first time.

The big losers, once again, were the Christian Democrats, who have dominated every Italian government since the war. Party strength eroded in virtually every town, although the Christian Democrats maintained their position as the largest party in most places.

Hurt even worse was the Socialist Party of austerity-demanding Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, whose vote slumped everywhere. The Socialists, like their Christian Democratic allies, have been hard hit by scandals linking party officials to payoffs for public works contracts.

In contrast, the former Communist Party--in opposition for all of Italy’s years as a republican democracy and now called the Democratic Party of the Left--kept its votes in most places.

In poor, corrupt Reggio Calabria, capital of Calabria, the voters turned to the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement.

What the results left unsaid is how new local governments will be formed in Lega-dominated towns. The Lega lacks an absolute majority and will need a governing partner. But, so far, no other party has been willing to join a coalition with followers of the upstart Bossi.