MILAN - Former Italian Premier Matteo Renzi appealed Sunday to disillusioned members of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s party to join forces — but received a quick rebuke. Renzi made his appeal the day after Berlusconi and his much-weakened Forza Italia party appeared marginalized at a right-wing rally in Rome led by Matteo Salvini of the populist League. While Berlusconi’s party has slid significantly in popularity in recent years, a post-fascist party, the Brothers of Italy, is pulling the conservative movement toward a more extreme right. Renzi said the right-wing rally in Rome on Saturday “ended the cultural model of the centre-right. Polls show its support hovering at around 5%, with three-quarters of Italians viewing it as a marginal party, and only 10% believe it will rise to significance.

Source: thestar October 20, 2019 19:26 UTC