ROME: Italy’s populist leader Matteo Salvini failed to win a key regional election and topple the country’s fragile coalition government, official results showed on Monday. The Democratic Party’s (PD) Stefano Bonaccini won 51.36 percent of the vote against the anti-immigrant League candidate Lucia Borgonzoni’s 43.68 percent, according to official results released by the interior ministry on Monday. Pre-election polls in Emilia Romagna had showed the League neck-and-neck with the PD, which governs Italy in coalition with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S). “Arrogance never pays,” PD candidate Bonaccini said later in his victory speech, scoffing at Salvini’s promises to “liberate” the region. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had dismissed fears of a government crisis were Salvini’s party to win, saying the election had no bearing on national politics.

Source: Pakistan Today January 27, 2020 15:34 UTC