Center-left shows clear lead in Italy's local elections

The center-left political forces have so far shown the strongest performence in the first round of voting in mayoral races across Italy, Adnkronos news agency said on Tuesday. The grassroots Five-Star Movement and the federalist Northern League party have been left behind. In Rome, center-left candidate for mayor Ignazio Marino took 42.6 percent of votes and conservative incumbent Gianni Alemanno grasped 30.3 percent while Five-Star movement candidate Marcello De Vito obtained 12.5 percent. The center-left gained a similar lead in mayoral contests across Italy, scoring outright wins for its candidates in the northeastern city of Vicenza, the northern city of Sondrio, the central cities of Pisa and Massa and the southern city of Isernia. To win the mayoral elections need at least 50 percent of votes. The second round of vote will be held on June 9-10 because there were no candidate obtained more than 50 percent of votes in the polls on May 26-27. In Rome, just one in two electors cast their ballots. The nationwide turnout was 62.3 percent, high by European standards, but still showing a decline in poll turnout in recent years. Local media said the Five Star Movement failed to make the run-off in any of the 16 major towns and cities holding elections among more than 500 local councils. Italian newspaper headlines on Tuesday derided the results as "flop" and "collapse" of the protest movement of former comic Beppe Grillo, which took a stunning 25 percent of vote in February's general elections. Observers said many voters punished Grillo for staying opposition and rejecting the overtures made by the center-left following February's inconclusive elections amid a months-long political stalemate. Italian prime minister Enrico Letta, the former center-left Democratic Party leader, said the local election results was "a victory for the left-right coalition government and a defeat for the opposition." "We are not stoking support for Grillo. On the contrary, after this government there will be a return to a bi-polar system free of populism," he said. Meanwhile, the opposition Northern League failed to gain more than 10 percent of votes in any town or city after a series of embezzlement scandals engulfed senior party officials.