ROME — Italy’s ruling centre-left Democratic Party is picking up the pieces after a weekend drubbing in local elections while former Premier Silvio Berlusconi is basking in his latest political rebound and an alliance with an anti-immigrant right-wing party. Democratic leader Matteo Renzi acknowledged internal divisions that have torn the Democratic Party apart, saying in a Facebook post Wednesday that he wanted to move beyond them to confront the issues that Italians care about. The 5-Stars lost badly in that round, failing to pick up any major city including Genoa, the hometown of its founder, Beppe Grillo. In the past, local voting results didn’t always correlate with national elections. Italy will hold national elections for Parliament and the premiership by spring 2018.

Source: National Post June 28, 2017 14:18 UTC