Rome goes to the polls amid 'Covid pass' tension
Romans are voting in a run-off election to decide the Italian capital's next mayor -- with a center-left or center-right candidate vying for the post.
The center-right candidate, radio host and lawyer Enrico Michetti, is backed by an alliance of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia (FdI), Matteo Salvini's right-wing Lega party and center-right Forza Italia.
History professor and former finance minister Roberto Gualtieri is the candidate for the center-left Partito Democratico (PD).
The run-off -- taking place Sunday and Monday -- comes after there was no outright winner in polls two weeks ago.
Last week, the granddaughter of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini, Rachele Mussolini, won a second term as a city councilor in Rome in the October 3-4 municipal election.
Standing for Fratelli d'Italia, she won more than 8,200 votes -- the highest number of votes for any candidate -- and a huge increase on the 657 votes she received in the 2016 ballot.
Fratelli d'Italia, descends from the neo-fascist conservative MSI party -- or Italian Social Movement party -- and is led by Giorgia Meloni.
Polls close at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) on Monday.
The run-off comes amid political tensions over the country's new "Green Pass" that mandates all workers are either double vaccinated or able to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test or recent recovery.
Protests erupted and turned violent in Rome on October 9 over the pass, which came into force on Friday. It is the strictest such mandate for workers in Europe.
On Saturday, a rally against fascist movements was held by Italy's national trade unions in the city's San Giovanni square.
History professor and former finance minister Roberto Gualtieri is the candidate for the center-left Partito Democratico (PD).
The run-off -- taking place Sunday and Monday -- comes after there was no outright winner in polls two weeks ago.
Last week, the granddaughter of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini, Rachele Mussolini, won a second term as a city councilor in Rome in the October 3-4 municipal election.
Standing for Fratelli d'Italia, she won more than 8,200 votes -- the highest number of votes for any candidate -- and a huge increase on the 657 votes she received in the 2016 ballot.
Fratelli d'Italia, descends from the neo-fascist conservative MSI party -- or Italian Social Movement party -- and is led by Giorgia Meloni.
Polls close at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) on Monday.
The run-off comes amid political tensions over the country's new "Green Pass" that mandates all workers are either double vaccinated or able to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test or recent recovery.
Protests erupted and turned violent in Rome on October 9 over the pass, which came into force on Friday. It is the strictest such mandate for workers in Europe.
On Saturday, a rally against fascist movements was held by Italy's national trade unions in the city's San Giovanni square.
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