New populist Italian leaders try to stay on offensive

ROME — Days after taking office, the two pillars of Italy’s first populist government led rallies Sunday in Sicily to maintain their popular support while detailing their strategies for deporting migrants and implementing other campaign promises that helped put them in power.

Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, the leaders of the right-wing League and euroskeptic 5-Star Movement, respectively, appeared at political rallies in several Sicilian cities a week before municipal elections are held on the island region.

They want to capitalize on the momentum of their coalition government taking national office Friday.

The north-based League stokes fears about migrants, who have arrived in huge numbers to Sicily. In his role as interior minister in the new government, Salvini vowed to expel them en masse, dismissing logistical challenges and costs.

“It’s too costly to keep them in Italy, in hotels,” Salvini said. The money would be better spent “building a future for them” in their home countries, Salvini said.

Many of the League’s voters associate migrants with crime. Salvini said holding centers for those awaiting deportation will be built so “they won’t leave from morning till night.”

Pozzallo Mayor Roberto Ammatuna disputed Salvini’s claim that the island had become “a refugee camp of Europe.” The mayor retorted, “Here there are beaches full and tourists.”