Forza Italia party leader Silvio Berlusconi (L) speaks next to local candidate Nello Musumeci during a rally in Catania, Italy, November 2, 2017. REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello
November 5, 2017
PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) – Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right coalition has a narrow lead over the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement in Sicilian regional elections held on Sunday, according to exit polls, with the center-left a distant third.
The election to pick a new regional governor on the Mediterranean island is widely seen as a test of trends across Italy ahead of parliamentary elections due by next May.
RAI state television said Nello Musumeci, backed by center-right parties, including former Prime Minister Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy!), would win between 35 percent and 39 percent of the vote.
The 5-Star’s Giancarlo Cancelleri was seen taking between 33-37 percent.
Another exit poll for private broadcaster La 7 put Musumeci on 36-40 percent and Cancelleri on 34-38 percent.
The center-left’s candidate Fabrizio Micari, backed by the ruling Democratic Party, was seen almost 20 points behind the frontrunner in both polls, followed by Claudio Fava, the candidate of a cluster of left-wing parties.
The vote count will not begin until Monday at 8 a.m (0700 GMT) with the full result expected later that day.
(Reporting by Gavin Jones, Editing by Crispian Balmer)
