Matteo Salvini extends Northern League's appeal as far south as Sicily

It has been three years since Matteo Salvini set foot in Sicily and issued an apology on behalf of the Northern League for years of abuse directed toward southern Italians by his once separatist party, which had long dismissed them as parasites dragging down the country.

It took riot police to protect him from the crowds in Palermo, who greeted him by throwing eggs and tomatoes on that visit in 2015. But when Italians head to the polls in national elections on Sunday, Salvini’s efforts to make amends in the south are likely to pay off.

Campaigning now as The League – La Lega – the party is expected to win 7% or more of the vote in the region. Such a result would have been unthinkable in the 1990s, when its then leader called for the creation of a mythical-sounding state in northern Italy called Padania.


Source : theguardian