ROME – The Mayor of Verona, Flavio Tosi, has officially launched his candidacy for the Veneto regional election following his ousting from the Northern League. Tosi will run against his former party’s candidate, Luca Zaia.

The showdown goes on in the North of Italy between the former colleagues, Tosi, Salvini and Zaia. At stake might be the legacy of the Northern League and the support of its faithful followers in the next regional election.

The disagreements between Salvini and Tosi, which saw the latter ousted from the party, began due to Tosi’s discontent regarding Salvini’s stance on issues such as allies for the upcoming election. For his part, Salvini did not like Tosi’s stubbornness concerning decision-making as well as his sympathy for Angelino Alfano, the former Minister of the Interior and current leader of the New-Centre-Right party.

Salvini and Tosi, despite their differing opinions, did try to negotiate but these talks were without success. However, many argue that Salvini did not offer any solutions aside from ordering Tosi to follow the Northern League’s guidelines.  

Following his ousting from the party on 11^th March, Tosi has decided to run against Luca Zaia – the Northern League candidate backed by Salvini – in the regional election. This struggle may appear like an internal debate although it involves more than just the Northern League politicians. Indeed, alliances are key in this battle.

Berlusconi’s party  (Pdl) must support Zaia’s candidacy as he is the legitimate option. Furthermore, Berlusconi can’t afford to turn his back on the Northern League due to his fading influence.

Salvini’s alliance with Berlusconi can be seen as another way to promote himself as the real one-man-band of the new right wing movement and continue his master plan. Resurging from the ashes of  a crisis with the promises of, perhaps, an exit from the Eurozone as well as using anti-immigration ideologies to gather as many voters as possible.

On the other side, despite 25 years of militancy in the Northern League, Flavio Tosi has slowly changed his mind on certain issues, distancing himself from Salvini’s. From an acknowledgment of gay community to arguing against an exit from the euro, Tosi is different from Salvini.

As a result, the regional election in Veneto will, of course, be a signal of some change. It appears that, Alessandra Moretti, the Pd candidate, has failed to garner enough support compared to Zaia and won’t be a major threat. But Tosi and his candidacy may well trouble Salvini’s plan, although the latter firmly stated “we are not afraid of him. We will win.” Only the upcoming elections will reveal who was right.