Italy's anti-Salvini 'sardines' take protest to Rome

[rooster59]

Italy's anti-Salvini 'sardines' take protest to Rome

By Gavin Jones and Stefano Bernabei

 

Protesters attend a demonstration held by "the sardines", a grassroots movement against far-right League leader Matteo Salvini, in Rome, Italy, December 14, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

 

ROME (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people joined a demonstration in central Rome on Saturday organised by a grassroots movement known as "the sardines", launched only a month ago to protest against far-right leader Matteo Salvini.

 

The sardines began in the city of Bologna in November when Mattia Santori, 32, and three friends invited people to protest against Salvini's League, whose popularity is high ahead of an election in the northern Emilia-Romagna region.

 

Salvini hopes to lead a resurgent right to its first poll victory in the wealthy region on Jan. 26. He says that if the left loses power there, it should also quit the coalition government in Rome and open the way for a national ballot.

 

Students, pensioners and families with children filled Rome's Piazza San Giovanni on a sunny afternoon, some holding pictures of sardines on cardboard and chanting a popular resistance song.

 

"I'm here because I'm against Salvini and I'm against the right and I want to see how many people feel like me," said Flavia Simula, a 68-year old retired biologist.

 

Since their maiden protest in Bologna gathered an estimated 15,000 people, the popularity of the "sardines" has spread.

 

They have held bigger rallies in several Italian cities, including Turin and Milan, to denounce Salvini, whose anti-immigrant, Italy-first rhetoric has resonated with many voters.

 

The demonstration in Rome appeared to be their largest so far, with a policeman at the scene estimating a turnout of 40,000 people. The organizers gave no official figures.

 

TARGETING POPULISTS

 

"Our aim was to fill the square and we managed to do that," Santori said. "The sardines are just people who fill a space with their ideas and who fight an enemy - the simplification of the issues by populists."

 

Pollsters say Emilia-Romagna, a leftist stronghold, could fall to the League and its rightist allies following successes in other regional votes, most recently in central Umbria.

 

They say the right is also likely to win any national vote, with the League seen as Italy's most popular party.

 

"I am here to say I am against fascism, I consider Salvini a fascist," said 18-year old student Luca Baironi.

 

Salvini has accused the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) of being behind the movement and dismissed the protests, saying he likes kittens because "they eat sardines".

 

The sardines deny any political affiliation and say they just want to register their opposition to populist forces gaining strength after a decade of economic stagnation.

 

Santori said on Saturday 99% of the group's sympathizers did not want the sardines to become a party. "We don't want to replace political movements," he said.

 

The ruling 5-Star Movement was born out of a street protest in Bologna in 2007. It triumphed in last year's national election but support has dropped sharply since it forged a government first with the League, then the PD.

 

(Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-15

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

 

 

[roobaa01]

the left is no match for dr. salvini lega nord they will be swept back into power to finish cleaning italy of illegal criminals from africa, the middle east.

 

wbr

roobaa01

[Krataiboy]

Populism, the antidote to globalism, is on the march and the sardines and their "progressive" chums should be grateful. 

 

The alternative is the globalist wet dream of a world divided into economic regions rather than independent sovereign nations, with "global governance" (PR speak for totalitarian rule) by an un-elected technocracy.

 

Trump was a shock spanner in the works of the "new world order" oligarchy. The Brexit vote and Boris's landslide election victory are further evidence the proletariat worms are turning.

 

Hold on to your hats. . . 

 

 

 

 

[rudi49jr]

2 hours ago, roobaa01 said:

the left is no match for dr. salvini lega nord they will be swept back into power to finish cleaning italy of illegal criminals from africa, the middle east.

 

wbr

roobaa01

What about the ‘legal’ criminals of the Mafia? All of them born and bred Italians, and they probably way outnumber the ‘illegal’ criminals.