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Centre-right coalition wins Friuli Regional Council elections

Renzo Tondo, of Popolo della Libertà (People of Freedom) has won the Friuli regional elections, held at the same time as the Italian general elections · There was also a shift to the right in the Province and City of Udine · We spoke to Ferruccio Clavora, a member of Friuli’s Slovenian community.

Elections for the Regional Council were held last weekend in Friuli alongside the Italian general elections. The incumbent president Riccardo Illy and his centre-left coalition were defeated by Renzo Tondo, who was representing the centre-right coalition headed by Popolo della Libertà (PdL) and had the support of Lega Nord (Northern League).

Tondo’s party, PdL, secured 21 seats while his rivals, the Partito Democratico (Democratic Party) only managed to win 15. Lega Nord came third, winning 8 seats in total. Tondo is generally considered to be sensitive to the Friulian national cause [candiate's blog and post on stateless nations].

Elections were also held in the Province of Udine, one of three provinces that make up the administrative region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Pietro Fontanini, the candidate for the centre-right coalition, replaces Marzio Strassoldo, of Forza Italia, whose party suffered an overwhelming defeat, winning less than 2% of votes and failing to secure a single seat in the province. The winning coalition won 18 seats and the left won 11.

Finally, municipal elections were held in the city of Udine, the Friulian capital, but a second round will have to be held to determine the winner.In the elections for the Italian Chamber of Deputies and Senate the majority of Friulians voted for Silvio Berlusconi’s party, which won seven seats, while Walter Veltroni’s leftist coalition took five. One seat went to the Unione di Centro (Union of the Centre).

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