Rival protests across Italy ahead of elections
MILAN: Tens of thousands of people marched in rival far-right and anti-fascist demonstrations across Italy, with isolated clashes flaring as tensions threatened to boil over ahead of next weekend’s election.
Italy sent 5,000 police out to keep order during more than 119 demonstrations nationwide, according to the interior ministry on Saturday, after violence erupted during similar protests earlier this month.
A campaign rally in the northern business hub of Milan led by Matteo Salvini, the head of anti-immigration group The League, attracted between 15,000 and 20,000 people, according to police, while organisers said turnout was closer to 50,000.
The group, formerly known as the Northern League, is part of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi’s rightwing coalition, which opinion polls suggest is leading ahead of the March 4 election.
“Italians first,” Salvini, who hopes to become the country’s next leader, told the crowd after taking to the podium with his five-year-old daughter in his arms.
He attacked the immigration policies of Matteo Renzi, a former cen- tre-left prime minister bidding for the job again, and vowed he would work for the elderly, unemployed workers and small businesses.
Violence briefly broke out at another Milan demonstration, when police in riot gear briefly grappled with anti-fascist protesters marching to counter a rally by the neo-fascist CasaPound movement.
There have been numerous clashes between anti-fascist and far-right activists across the country, particularly after a racially motivated attack on Feb 3 by a farright gunman in the central city of Macerata that left six African migrants wounded.
The violence comes amid fears of a revival of far-right groups in the election, after several European countries shifted to the right in recent years against a backdrop of economic and migration woes.
In Rome alone, more than 3,000 police were mobilised for demonstrations, but the biggest march in the Italian capital remained calm, with a sea of red and green union flags waving in the cold rain.