Local Elections: Centre-right Downplays Setback, Meloni Meets Deputies and Refocuses on International Agendas

Rome, May 26 (LaPresse) – The "usual weekly meeting" between leaders, "nothing special, no summit." Top government officials are playing down the meeting held at Palazzo Chigi between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Ministers Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini. The three gathered at the seat of government around lunchtime, just as the voting in the local elections was drawing to a close. The leaders of Lega and Forza Italia left Chigi after an hour and a half, once the polls had closed and the first exit polls indicated defeats for the centre-right in the first round in both Genoa and Ravenna, while Taranto and Matera are heading for a runoff, with the progressive front still in the lead. Not exactly a success for the centre-right, and the FdI organization chief Giovanni Donzelli could not help but express his “regret at having lost Genoa.” From the Lega, the outlook was more optimistic: "The Lega remains strong on the ground and close to citizens." There were no official comments from the three majority leaders who met at Palazzo Chigi, the day after a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss trade tariffs.