Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and League leader Matteo Salvini won another term Sunday as the party polls below 5% ahead of next year’s general election, Reuters reported.
The congress had 705 delegates in attendance. Massimo Garavaglia, the sole challenger, received one-fifth of the vote, while Salvini secured roughly two-thirds, Reuters reported.
Salvini said he would press the government to end financial support for Ukraine. At the congress, he cited Italy’s difficult economic situation while questioning whether the country should continue sending money and weapons.
He put approval of Italy’s 2027-2029 budget bill at the top of his agenda for Tuesday. Recent polls place the League behind coalition partner Forza Italia. National Future, a group formed in February by League dissidents, is nearing 9%, Reuters reported.
Reuters said analysts viewed Salvini’s September decision to call the congress as an effort to strengthen his standing before next year’s election. The League reached a record 34% in the 2019 European Parliament election, and Salvini has led the party since 2013, Reuters reported.
