BAGHERIA - The 5 Star Movement (M5S) have lost ground to the League, its coalition partners, and Italy's left-wing candidates in Sicilian local elections which took place Sunday.

 The centre-right, backed by the League, have made large inroads in the Sicilian electorate, its voter base increasing across the island, while the M5S have lost two seats they previously administered: Gela and Bagheria.

 Bagheria in particular marked an embarrassing fall from grace for the M5S. Romina Aiello, its candidate for the town, won just 11 per cent of the vote.

 Centrist candidate Filippo Tripoli, meanwhile, won 46 per cent of the vote in the same area, over the 40 per cent threshold required to avoid a second round of voting, while League backed Gino Di Stefano claimed 31.4 per cent.

 Five of the seven regions where voting is taking place will now proceed to a second round of balloting, in which the League’s leader Matteo Salvini will hope his party continue their meteoric rise in popularity.

 “Thank you, Sicilians. Our path would have seemed like science fiction only a few years ago. It shows that what we are doing in government is appreciated in the North and South alike.”

 M5S leader Luigi Di Maio was quick to distance his party from the ousted Gela and Bagheria candidates, declaring that they had not been members of the party for a number of years, before stating that the M5S were content with their performance.

 The M5S are still in the running for the seat in Caltanissetta, the only regional capital where elections were taking place, although their candidate won almost 20 per cent fewer votes than his right-wing counterpart.

 Voter turnout across the elections was lower than usual, only 58.42 per cent of eligible adults basting their ballot paper. 56.70 per cent of people voted in Caltanissetta, down from 64.86 per cent in previous elections.

 The Sicilian local elections are being used by many as indicators of support for the various parties ahead of May’s European elections.

 As shown by recent polls, the M5S have lost support during their time in government as Italians have begun to sympathise with the more right-wing League and former governing party the Partito Democratico.

ea