At the end of January, the Partito Democratico (PD), the main political party of the Italian left, which lost votes nationwide in the last three elections, won the regional elections in Emilia, an area in Italy’s north, whose major city is Bologna.
The party defeated Matteo Salvini’s Lega, a right-wing populist party, that was well positioned to grab the region from the left, which had been governing Emilia since 1945 (with both the Communist Party until 1990, and then PDS-PD).
Salvini probably would have won if the Sardines hadn’t emerged on the political scene: This is a new movement launched by the children of the traditional left-wing Emilian establishment. The older generation had lost touch with their constituency, opening the doors to Salvini’s right-wing populism. Sardine’s organizers filled the town squares all over Italy with young people, who, in turn, pushed voters to turn out in big numbers in order to keep the right wing Lega out of power in the most ancient stronghold of the left. Sardines’ message, which has proved so popular, is simple: Let’s return to civilized politics and life, in general. Stop the insults, refrain from slandering opponents, be honest, transparent and listen to the people’s needs. The message adds that in order to launch a new type of Italian politics, people should not replace real participation with social media: It argues that the Internet and Facebook are the realm of manipulation and fake news rather than genuine discussion.
Kurgen
Article URL : https://consortiumnews.com/2020/03/03/regional-victory-spotlights-italys-sardines-movement/