ROME – The Centre-right coalition look set to win Sunday’s weathervane regional elections in Molise, according to data on the region’s website. Counting is still ongoing after polls were closed at 11pm on Sunday night.

 Donato Toma, backed by both the League and Forza Italia, leads the first regional elections since the political stalemate ensuing from last month’s general election.

 With 354 of the 394 voting sections counted, Toma boasted 44.22% support, ahead of the Five Star’s Andrea Greco who has gathered 37.93% of the vote, both well clear of another disappointing result for the Democratic Party.

 Italy’s second smallest region was a hard-fought battleground, considered by the M5S and the centre-right coalition as a crucial election to gain momentum and a psychological boost in the horse-trading for a new national government.

 Having won three out of the five seats in the Chamber of Deputies in the general election last month, the Five Star had hoped that the Molise would become the first region in Italy to be governed by the anti-establishment party.

 Greco, however, was quick to stamp out the idea of failure for his party, instead declaring the results as “a historical result at a regional level” for the M5S.

 He added that they had “never done so well in a regional election,” increasing their influence in the region with the appointment of six councillors – four more than the previous regional elections in Molise.

 Yet, the Leader of Brothers of Italy Giorgia Meloni saw the results as an “overwhelming victory for the centre-right,” which she believed provided “another clear indication for President Mattarella” that the Italian people want a centre-right government.  

 The results arrive as the Italian President prepares his next move in the gruelling government-formation process. Mattarella is expected to name Chamber of Deputies Speaker Roberto Fico to undertake an exploratory mission after Senate Speaker Maria Elisabetta Casellati failed to find a breakthrough last week.

 Fico’s role would potentially encompass the broader task of ascertaining whether a majority can actually be formed.

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