Rome, Apr. 23, (dpa/GNA) – The right-wing alliance of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has scored a victory in a regional election seen as a barometer of national opinion ahead of European elections in June.

In Basilicata in southern Italy, centre-right candidate Vito Bardi was re-elected as regional president with 56.6% of the vote, compared to his opponent from the centre-left, Piero Marrese, with 42.1%.

Bardi, who has been in power in Basilicata since 2019, said he would “continue to be the president for everyone.”

At 49.8%, voter turnout in Basilicata was lower than in the 2019 election. Around 540,000 people live in the region.

Since October 2022, the ultra-right Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) under Meloni have governed at national level together with Matteo Salvini’s right-wing populist Lega and the conservative Forza Italia party.

Fourteen of Italy’s 20 regions have centre-right governments.

The election in Basilicata was seen as a test of public opinion ahead of the June European elections.

In the latest national polls, Meloni’s Fratelli are in first place with 28.5%.

They are followed by the Social Democrats (PD) of opposition leader Elly Schlein with 21.2% and the Five Star Movement of former prime minister Giuseppe Conte with 15.9%. GNA