Italy elections: Rome set to elect Virginia Raggi as first female mayor

  19 June 2016    Read: 1304
Italy elections: Rome set to elect Virginia Raggi as first female mayor
Rome is set to elect its first female mayor in a run-off vote in municipal elections.
Virginia Raggi, from the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, is seen as the favourite against Roberto Giachetti of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

Her victory would be a blow to Italy`s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

His PD party may also lose in Italy`s financial capital, Milan, and faces tough battles in Turin and Bologna.

Ms Raggi, a 37-year-old lawyer, won 35% of the vote in the first round two weeks ago, against 24% for Mr Giachetti.

Correspondents say a victory in Rome would give anti-globalist Five Star a platform for parliamentary elections due in 2018.

When in Rome shake up the politics

The next mayor of Rome will find a city mired in debts of more than €13bn (£10bn; $15bn) - twice its annual budget.

Romans are frustrated by potholes, piles of rubbish and serious deficiencies in public transport and housing, the BBC`s James Reynolds in reports from the Italian capital.

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