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Roundup: Anti-establishment M5S movement set to win mayoral race in Rome

Xinhua, June 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) candidate Virginia Raggi, 37, is set to become the first woman mayor of Rome after winning at least 67.5 percent of the vote in Sunday's runoff elections, according to the exit poll.

Her landslide victory would also strengthen the Five Star Movement as the second main political force at the national level.

Her center-left rival Roberto Giachetti, from Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party (PD), won around 32.5 percent. Definitive results were expected Monday morning.

The center-left party has been in charge of Rome for most of the last 22 years, and have aroused a wide discontent among local citizens due to the recent mafia-related corruption scandal and lasting inefficiencies in public services, especially transport, garbage and housing.

A food shopkeeper, who preferred not to be named, complained about the Rome municipal government's failing rubbish collection and street cleaning services, saying the government "leaves our city in disgusting conditions."

"I am not sure the M5S candidate will be able to improve the situation, but at least she is not linked to the political establishment that has run here for decades," he added.

In the central and wealthier San Giovanni neighborhood, Maria Liccati provided a completely different view.

"I am not at all happy with the PD, and how it has managed the city. Yet, I could just not sit and watch the Five Star Movement winning, even if it is most likely they will anyway," she said.

Liccati disagreed with M5S's main political views, and especially the Eurosceptic stance and the anti-immigration approach.

"I fear they would just increase social tensions in Rome. Furthermore, I do not think Raggi is really up to the task of solving our main problems, beginning with the city's huge debt," she added.

The PD's Rome candidate did not wait for the official results to acknowledge his defeat. "It has been a tough race, and we were aware of this since the beginning," Giachetti told supporters and media in the PD headquarters in Rome.

"I congratulate Raggi, who will be the next mayor according to the preliminary results."

"We will contribute as an opposition force in the city council, yet serving without prejudice and constructively," Giachetti added.

Sunday's mayoral runoffs took place in 126 cities. Endi