'Post-Fascist' Elected Mayor of Rome

Italian capital shifts right for first time in more than 60 years
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 29, 2008 7:07 AM CDT
'Post-Fascist' Elected Mayor of Rome
Rome's mayor-elect Giannni Alemanno, right, sprays champagne at the Campidoglio Capitol hill, Monday, April 28, 2008.    (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

After decades of center-left rule, the city of Rome elected a rightwinger with a past in a neo-Fascist group as mayor yesterday. Gianni Alemanno, whose party calls itself "post-Fascist," won a runoff election for control of the Italian capital, handily beating the country's outgoing deputy prime minister. Alemanno has promised to expel 20,000 "gyspies and immigrants" from Rome, writes the Times of London.

Alemanno's handy victory in Rome shifts Italy further to the right and provides a boost for Silvio Berlsuconi, who defeated Rome's previous mayor, Walter Veltroni, in parliamentary elections two weeks ago. Berlusconi will become prime minister this week, and he is expected to give key cabinet posts, including the interior ministry, to an anti-immigrant party that forms part of his coalition. (More Silvio Berlusconi stories.)

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