Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.
This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.
So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.
This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.
#Transwars: Lesbians Get Persecuted by Trans Activists\
Former Chinese Prisoner Explains the Evils of Socialism and Communism
The socialist temptation | Dinesh D’Souza LIVE at the University at Buffalo
George Soros’ non-profits may be using misleading, deceptive info. in tax filings
ya think?
An old one but on e that needs to be better known.
How the Obama State Dept. funded Soros group’s activities
Soros-funded group releases app that helps illegal immigrants avoid arrest
The Inevitable Death of Gun Control: Cody Wilson and the Future of Untraceable Homemade Firearms
Right now you have to buy a partially finished receiver for the handgun, you want to make. Since he has modified the Ghost Gun milling machine to handle several different types of handguns, both semi-autos and revolvers how long will it be before all you need is the chunk of steel? Given what I see starting the the next few months, a year and a half max, I don’t think it will take very long.
Pro-Erdogan Turkish Media: U.S. ‘Big Boss of Global Terrorism’ (breitbart, Oct 27, 2019)
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2019/10/27/pro-erdogan-turkish-media-u-s-big-boss-of-global-terrorism/
“Yeni Safak, one of Turkey’s largest and most belligerent Ottoman imperialist newspapers, boasted a column by its editor-in-chief on its English-language page Sunday morning calling America and Israel the “big bosses of global terrorism.”
While editor-in-chief Ibrahim Karagül often accuses the United States of engaging in jihadist terrorism, the article’s prominent feature on the front page was particularly notable Sunday for standing alongside the news that an American military operation resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the “caliph” of the Islamic State terrorist group.
President Donald Trump announced that al-Baghdadi, responsible for the attempted genocide of multiple ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria, “died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way” this weekend. Al-Baghdadi reportedly detonated a suicide vest when facing imminent capture, killing himself and three of his young children.
President Trump thanked the government of Turkey, long accused of aiding Islamic State recruits by not sufficiently protecting its border with Syria, for aiding the operation.
Trump also thanked the government of Russia, now active in the northwest region of Syria where the raid occurred, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a majority-Kurdish militia that was largely responsible for the fall of ISIS in Raqqa, its “capital.” Mazloum Abdi, the general commander of the SDF, confirmed on Twitter that it had cooperated with the raid, offering intelligence for five months.
Yeni Safak, which regularly toes the Turkish government line that the SDF is a terrorist organization, carried the news of Trump thanking Turkey, but not the SDF. The newspaper is popular among supporters of President Erdogan and considered close enough to Erdogan’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) that it often acts as a propaganda wing of the government.
Karagül’s column blaming America and Israel for most of the world’s terrorist activity, dated Friday, remains on the front page of the newspaper on Sunday at press time.
The column – titled “The global black market for terrorism: Who requests these tenders? The EU establishes a terrorist organization, but the US and Israel are its true masters. UAE’s MBZ and Saudi Arabia’s MBS, the two crown princes who are ‘brokers of terror’; it’s game over, your turn will come.” – claimed that the “U.S. and Israel are the big bosses of global terrorism.”
“These countries, which have turned ‘fighting terrorism’ into a global political doctrine, actually invented that term to veil their terrorist organizations,” Karagül wrote. He did not provide any evidence for Israel having collaborated in the creation of terrorist organizations.
For the United States, Karagül cited America’s ties to the SDF – which he, like the Erdogan government, considers the same entity as the Marxist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist groups – which Trump credited in part for the success in neutralizing al-Baghdadi.
The U.S. administration was able to openly declare a terrorist organization, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as its “partner.” And against a NATO ally too. The ethnic terrorism that has been used against our country for the last four decades was actually these countries’ covert war against Turkey.
The buildup in north Syria is the most open and most reckless support ever given to a terrorist organization in world history. The deal struck in Ankara, which ensures the PKK and U.S.’s withdrawal from the area, certified that the U.S. really is a terror boss.
They made a deal with our country for a terrorist organization. Through this deal, we declared to the world their role as a “terror boss.” There is no other greater shame than this for the U.S.
Karagül also claimed that European Union members “establish terrorist organizations, finance them, train them, deploy them to countries, and specify clear-cut targets,” without elaborating.
Karagül concluded, without offering any transition in topic, that the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) should be “openly held accountable of and charged for being a global terror financier, for assassination and dirty, covert operations.” He added the allegation that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) directly ordered the killing of Islamist Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Karagül has not made any public statements at press time regarding the al-Baghdadi raid. He has insisted in the past on claiming that al-Baghdadi was an American asset and that Washington created the Islamic State.
“We have been saying for a long time that Daesh was founded by the U.S. itself. Turkey is the only country that truly fought against Daesh. Daesh is not a terrorist organization, it is an occupation tool,” the editor-in-chief said in 2017. Yeni Safak has also alleged that the CIA evacuated ISIS terrorists from Syria to repurpose them against enemies in the future.”
“Top Obama Military Officer Bashes President Trump For “Piling on” Humiliation of Baghdadi and ISIS (VIDEO)”
by Cristina Laila – October 27, 2019
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/10/top-obama-military-officer-bashes-president-trump-for-piling-on-humiliation-of-baghdadi-and-isis-video/
Twitter Link:
“Admiral James Winnefeld tells @margbrennan that he’s worried about Trump’s “piling on” by describing al-Baghdadi as a “dog.” Says it sends a signal to followers ‘that could cause them to lash out possibly more harshly in the wake.'” Face the Nation – October 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1188478777107664897
Obama purged the top ranks of the US Military of officers and NCOs that he didn’t think were (in his radical left opinion) politically reliable. After bin Laden was killed reports surfaced that Obama had blocked 3 or 4 previous raids to kill bin Laden and that members of his administration and the military carried out the raid and didn’t tell Obama until our boots were on hte ground. I’ll bet this man wasn’t in on that raid.
The way they treated bin Ladens body didn’t show respect for Islam, it showed Kow Towing to Islam saying we were too scared to do anything but respect the relibion trying to destroy us.
Rabid animal, put down at last.
Along with 3 kids.
Worse than the sickest dog, more like a devil.
The world is just a little cleaner today.
ISIS spokesman al-Muhajir ‘targeted’ in Turkey-controlled Syria, SDF says
https://thedefensepost.com/2019/10/27/isis-spokesman-al-muhajir-jarablus-syria-sdf/
“Islamic State spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir was “targeted” in northern Syria following the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Sunday, October 27.
“Continuing the previous operation, the terrorist Abu Hassan al-Muhajir was targeted, the right-hand man of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the spokesman of the Daesh [ISIS] organization, in the village of Ayn al-Baydah near Jarabalus,” SDF commander-in-chief General Mazlum Abdi tweeted.
The operation was conducted “in direct coordination between SDF intelligence and the American army,” adding that it “came as part of the continuing pursuit of Daesh leaders.”
An SDF official who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak on the issue told AFP that al-Muhajir had been killed.
An AFP correspondent in Ain al-Baydah, which is controlled by Turkey-backed Syrian rebels, said two vehicles where hit by airstrikes: a small pick-up truck and a larger truck carrying a small metal container.
He saw two corpses lying outside the first vehicle while a third charred body was in the metal container.
Newsweek reported that the CIA had targeted al-Muhajir using Hellfire missiles.
A spokesperson for the U.S.-led Coalition against ISIS told The Defense Post that the Coalition “supports all efforts to disrupt and defeat ISIS senior leadership,” but declined to give further comment due to operational security considerations.
Ayn al-Baydah is around 10 km (6 miles) south of Jarablus, which is on the Turkey border. Syrian rebels backed by Turkish forces captured the area in during Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016.
“We believe ISIS spox. Al-Muhajir was in Jarablus to facilitate Baghdadi’s entry to Euphrates Shield area,” SDF spokesperson Mustafa Bali later tweeted. “The two US-led operations have effectively disabled top ISIS leadership who were hiding NW Syria. More still remain hiding in the same area.”
Little is known about al-Muhajir’s true identity, though his nom de guerre suggests he was not Syrian. Al-Muhajir was declared the group’s spokesperson in late 2016 after the death of Taha Felaha, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, near Aleppo in August that year.
Mazlum’s announcement came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said ISIS leader Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. Special Operations forces raid on Saturday. Baghdadi allegedly detonated a suicide vest during the operation on a compound in Barisha, a village in Idlib province about 5 km (3.1 miles) from the Syria-Turkey border.
Earlier on Sunday, Mazlum said that for five months “there has been joint intel cooperation on the ground and accurate monitoring” and that “cooperation in monitoring and targeting ISIS leaders” was continuing.
“Soon there will be other effective operations,” Mazlum said.”
This makes the filthy Turk grind his teeth.The “Coalition” did this, right under his nose.
FLASHBACK: Never Forget — ISIS Terror Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Was Held at US Prison Camp Bucca in 2009 Until Obama White House Agreed to Let Him Go
ast night President Trump and America won again!
US forces killed the barbaric leader of ISIS, Abu Al-Baghdadi, last night near the Syrian–Turkish border.
Al-Baghdadi was the leader of the ISIS Caliphate. He was held by the US in 2009 until the Iraqis and the Obama administration agreed to let him go.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/10/flashback-never-forget-isis-terror-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-was-held-at-us-prison-camp-bucca-in-2009-until-obama-white-house-agreed-to-let-him-go/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=the-gateway-pundit&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_content=weekend
Exclusive: Baghdadi’s aide was key to his capture – Iraqi intelligence sources
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-capture-exclu/exclusive-baghdadis-aide-was-key-to-his-capture-iraqi-intelligence-sources-idUSKBN1X60SR
“BAGHDAD (Reuters) – In their long hunt for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi intelligence teams secured a break in February 2018 after one of the Islamic State leader’s top aides gave them information on how he escaped capture for so many years, said two Iraqi security officials.
Baghdadi would sometimes hold strategy talks with his commanders in moving minibuses packed with vegetables in order to avoid detection, Ismael al-Ethawi told officials after he was arrested by Turkish authorities and handed to the Iraqis.
“Ethawi gave valuable information which helped the Iraqi multi-security agencies team complete the missing pieces of the puzzle of Baghdadi’s movements and places he used to hide,” one of the Iraqi security officials said.
“Ethawi gave us details on five men, including him, whom were meeting Baghdadi inside Syria and the different locations they used,” he told Reuters.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Baghdadi died “whimpering and crying” in a raid by U.S. special forces in the Idlib region of northwest Syria.
In a televised address from the White House, Trump said the Islamic State leader died alongside three of his children when he detonated an explosives-laden vest after fleeing into a dead-end tunnel during the attack.
The path to Baghdadi’s demise was full of frustrations for Western and Arab intelligence agencies, who have pored over clues to the whereabouts of a man who imposed a reign of terror across a large swathe of Syria and Iraq, ordering his men to carry out mass executions and beheadings.
He is also responsible for gruesome attacks across five continents in the name of his ultra-fanatic version of Islam.
TURNING POINT
Turning militants such as Ethawi was critical to the agents trying to track Baghdadi.
Ethawi, who holds a PHD in Islamic Sciences, was considered by Iraqi intelligence officials to be one of the leader’s top five aides. He joined al Qaeda in 2006 and was arrested by U.S. forces in 2008 and jailed for four years, according to the Iraqi security officials.
Baghdadi later tasked Ethawi with key roles such as delivering religious instructions and the selection of Islamic State commanders. After the group largely collapsed in 2017, Ethawi fled to Syria with his Syrian wife.
Another turning point came earlier this year during a joint operation in which U.S., Turkish and Iraqi intelligence agents captured senior Islamic State leaders, including four Iraqis and one Syrian, the Iraqi security officials said.
“They gave us all the locations where they were meeting with Baghdadi inside Syria and we decided to coordinate with the CIA to deploy more sources inside these areas,” said one of the Iraqi officials, who has close ties to multiple security agencies.
“In mid-2019 we managed to locate Idlib as the place where Baghdadi was moving from village to village with his family and three close aides,” the official said.
Informants in Syria then spotted an Iraqi man wearing a checkered headdress in an Idlib marketplace and recognized him from a photograph, the official said. It was Ethawi, and they followed him to the home where Baghdadi was staying.
“We passed the details to the CIA and they used a satellite and drones to watch the location for the past five months,” the official said.
Two days ago, Baghdadi left the location with his family for the first time, traveling by minibus to a nearby village.
“There it was his last moment to live,” the official said.
LOCAL ENEMIES
Baghdadi was also on the run from local enemies in Syria.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group formerly known as the Nusra Front and which dominates Idlib, had been mounting its own search for Baghdadi after receiving information he was in the area, according to a commander in an Idlib jihadist group.
The Nusra Front and Islamic State were rivals who fought bloody battles against each other in the Syrian war.
The Nusra Front, founded by Abu Mohamad al-Golani, was al Qaeda’s official affiliate in Syria until it broke away from the global jihadist network in 2016.
According to the Idlib commander, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham recently captured another aide to Baghdadi known as Abu Suleiman al-Khalidi, one of three men seen sitting alongside Baghdadi in his last video message.
The capture of Khalidi was “the key” in the search for Baghdadi, the commander said.
His comments raised the possibility that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which locals say is believed to have contacts with Turkish forces in northwest Syria, may have passed on what it learned to other intelligence agencies.
Baghdadi may have concluded that hiding in Idlib was his best hope after Islamic State was all but wiped out in Iraq and Syria. He could have blended in, while lax security and checkpoints operated by armed groups that rarely search vehicles increased his chances of survival, the commander said.
He said Baghdadi was believed to have been in Idlib for about six months, and that his main reason for being there was to try to hide. But he said Baghdadi was still seen as a major threat because his presence would have attracted supporters in an area where Islamic State has sleeper cells.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters raided the town of Sarmin about two months ago after receiving information about Baghdadi being there, but he was not found, according to the commander.”
UN Special Representative: Armed Entities In Iraq Can’t be Tolerated
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1963776/un-special-representative-armed-entities-iraq-can%E2%80%99t-be-tolerated
“UN deeply regrets and condemns the further loss of life and injuries, and strongly denounces the destruction of public and private property during the latest waves of protests in Iraq, according to Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
Hennis-Plasschaert warned that armed entities sabotaging the peaceful demonstrations, eroding the government’s credibility and ability to act, cannot be tolerated.
“Iraq has come a long way, and cannot afford to slide back into a new cycle of violence.”
The Special Representative also addressed restrictions on social media which remained in place and the internet access intermittent.
The Special Representative urged all parties to redouble their efforts on the ground to not only prevent provocations and unnecessary confrontations, but also to collectively stand against armed spoilers. She noted that implementing the measures recently announced by the government will take time, reiterating that a constructive dialogue on the way forward is in the interest of all.
The United Nations stand ready to assist, including by supporting the Iraqi authorities in their efforts to address legitimate demands for change: accountability and transparency, an end to corruption, improved public services, strengthened governance, and an environment that is conducive to growth and employment, announced Hennis-Plasschaert.
“I also call upon all (political) leaders to set an example through action. Calls for an end to corruption, for instance, should be accompanied by the closure of the so-called economic committees of their parties or movements.””
France on Alert for Revenge Attacks after Baghdadi’s Death
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1963956/france-alert-revenge-attacks-after-baghdadi%E2%80%99s-death
“French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, in a letter to police prefects, called on Sunday for increased vigilance to prevent possible revenge attacks following the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in northwest Syria.
The possible intensification of extremist propaganda following Baghdadi’s death, “which could possibly call for acts of vengeance, requires the most extreme vigilance, notable during public events in your departments in coming days,” Castaner said, according to Reuters.
One of the few senior ISIS commanders still at large, Baghdadi died Saturday when he detonated his suicide vest in a tunnel while being pursued by US forces in Syria’s Idlib province, killing himself and three of his children, US President Donald Trump announced Sunday. He was believed to be 48.
“He didn’t die a hero, he died a coward, crying, whimpering and screaming,” Trump said.
Castaner said last week that intelligence services had arrested a man for planning an attack inspired by plane attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in Sept. 2001.
France has for several years grappled with how to respond to both homegrown extremists and foreign militants following a series of attacks across the country.
France has seen more than 230 people killed in the last four years on its territory from militant attacks, notably in Nov. 2015 after coordinated strikes across the capital.
The attacks were claimed by ISIS, and were carried out in part by French-born extremists.”
Morocco’s Police Reassure Citizens after Successful Counter-Terrorism Raids
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/10/285402/morocco-police-citizen-successful-counter-terrorism/
“Moroccan special agents arrested a 7th ISIS-linked suspect in Tamaris II, a beach town near Casablanca, in what is so far the country’s most far-reaching counter-terrorism operations.
The arrest took place on the evening of Friday, October 25. Searches are still ongoing to arrest other suspects or accomplices in the affair, authorities have indicated.
The news came after the arrest of six individuals in large-scale counter-terrorism carried out raids simultaneously in three different locations: two in the Casablanca area and one in the Ouazzane province. The raids took place in the early morning hours of Friday, October 25.
By noon of the same day, the news made the rounds in national papers, social media, as well as a handful of international publications. Over the years, Morocco has gained worldwide recognition for its effective, almost irreproachable security architecture. The country is often deservingly labeled as an oasis of stability in a troubled region.
But even for a country with Morocco’s pedigree on counter-terrorism, Friday’s raids caught the attention of many for the rapidity of Moroccan Special Forces in responding to the threat posed by the ISIS-linked cell.
Two of the suspects had rented an apartment in Chefchaouen on October 24 and planned to strike on the following day, only to be stopped by BCIJ officers early in the morning. Morocco’s 2M TV reported that the suspects had “an impressive arsenal” of knives, shotguns, and explosive materials when authorities arrested them.
Investigations continue to shed further light in the case, according to a statement from the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (DGST).
In another declaration, the ministry of interior, while reassuring citizens about the country’s preparedness to preempt terrorist plots, acknowledged that this cell was unlike any other ISIS-linked cell Moroccan agents have dismantled in the past months and years.
The activities of the cell were on a “very advanced” scale, the ministry said, detailing that the cell was not only planning to “strike a number of sensitive sites throughout the country.”
In addition to carrying out terrorist plots in extremely sensitive areas across the country, the cell’s ultimate plan was to find itself a safe haven in the mountainous areas in Northern Morocco, where its members sought to establish an “ISIS-governed willayah.”
Meanwhile, a DGST statement issued earlier today has denied a number of rumors circulating about the sites that the terrorists planned to attack.
In the aftermath of the arrests, a number of reports indicated that the cell wanted to duplicate ISIS-inspired attacks recently witnessed in Sahel countries by mostly targeting foreign interests, such as foreign schools or hotels.
DGST says the allegations are “false,” “unfounded,” and appear to have been made to instill fear among citizens. The statement stressed that special agents are tracking down the origins of the allegations, as well as any other “rumors” seeking to spread panic and fear.”
PM urges Kashmiris not to give in to jihad voices
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2088249/1-pm-imran-takes-nation-confidence-kashmir-issue/
Turkey ‘neutralizes’ 6 PKK terrorists in N.Iraq
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/operation-peace-spring/turkey-neutralizes-6-pkk-terrorists-in-niraq/1627611
“At least six PKK terrorists were “neutralized” in northern Iraq, Turkey’s National Defense Ministry said Sunday.
Three PKK terrorists were “neutralized” in an air operation in the Zap and Qandil regions in coordination with Operation Claw, the ministry said on Twitter.
Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
In an earlier Twitter post, the ministry said three PKK terrorists were neutralized in northern Iraq in a counter-terrorism operation carried out with the support of aerial combat elements.
On May 27, Turkey launched Operation Claw against the PKK in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq, followed by its second and third phases in July and late August.
Over 400 PKK terrorists have been “neutralized” in northern Iraq over the past four months, according to the ministry.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU — has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.”
Pakistan: Key leader of religious party arrested
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/pakistan-key-leader-of-religious-party-arrested/1627676
“Pakistani authorities on Sunday arrested a key leader of a mainstream religious party in the capital Islamabad, officials and his party said.
Mufti Kifayatullah, a firebrand religious leader belonging to the opposition Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party, was arrested just an hour before the opposition parties were set to launch an anti-government protest.
According to the deputy commissioner of the northwestern Mansehra district — Kifayatullah’s hometown — he was arrested for 30 days.
“He has posed constant threats to law and order which may disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the district,” said Aurangzeb Haider Khan.
For the last several days, Kifayatullah made several appearances on local TV channels criticizing retired army officers for commenting on national politics on current affairs shows.
In another significant development, the government revoked the citizenship of Hafiz Hamdullah, a former senator and vocal JUI-F official.
The state-run Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has directed all television channels to refrain from inviting Hamdullah to appear on their talks shows.
“NADRA [National Database & Registration Authority] has conveyed that Senator Hafiz Hamdullah Saboor is confirmed Alien as he is not a citizen of Pakistan,” PEMRA said in a letter to television channels.
The JUI-F condemned the government actions as “illegal” and “part of political victimization.”
“We reject such illegal actions of arresting our leaders before a peaceful march and revoking the citizenship of a leader who remained senator and health minister for 11 years,” Maulana Jalil Jan, spokesman for JUI-F in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told Anadolu Agency.
He noted that Hamdullah’s son is serving as an officer in the Pakistan army and his father has served as teacher in the education department of the southwestern Balochistan province.
“How could a person who has served as a member of the parliament, his son is an army officer, and his father served and retired as a government teacher become a foreigner?” Jan asked.”
ITALY – League wins landslide victory in Italian regional election
Election in Umbria delivers major blow to Italy’s governing coalition.
ROME — After half a century of left-wing rule, the central Italian region of Umbria voted for a regional government spearheaded by Matteo Salvini’s far-right League.
According to initial projections after Sunday’s vote, Donatella Tesei of the League, backed by the far-right Brothers of Italy and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, is expected to have won around 60 percent of the vote. Vincenzo Bianconi, who was supported by the two parties that govern on the national level, the Democratic Party (PD) and the 5Star Movement, won just under 35 percent.
As the scale of the League’s victory became apparent, Salvini told reporters: “We are writing history here tonight.”
The result is a major blow to the PD-5Stars government, whose formation two months ago removed the League from power. The Umbria election was the first time the two new allies ever jointly backed a candidate and the first time their tie-up was tested through a vote.
Although Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday claimed “this is not a vote on my government,” the governing parties’ disastrous defeat is certain to have major repercussions for the already-fragile coalition. While Umbria only has 700,000 voters, it has long been one of Italy’s left-wing strongholds and had only ever been governed by Communists, the left or the center left.
Salvini will use the League’s landslide victory to demonstrate he still has the backing of most Italians despite having pulled the plug on the government over the summer and having been forced into opposition.
The next big test for the PD-5Stars alliance will come in another regional vote, in Emilia-Romagna, in January.
While analysts believe the Umbrian defeat won’t bring down the government, losing the region that contains Bologna — Italy’s most symbolic left-wing stronghold — could destroy the PD-5Stars alliance.
https://www.politico.eu/article/league-wins-landslide-victory-in-italian-regional-election/
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Italy’s Salvini set for victory in Umbria local vote: exit poll
ROME (Reuters) – A right-wing coalition is set for victory in an election on Sunday in the central Italian region of Umbria, according to an exit poll, giving a boost to Matteo Salvini’s League party.
The vote in tiny Umbria, a traditional centre-left stronghold with less than 900,000 inhabitants, restores impetus to Salvini after his political blunder that saw the League lose power nationally this summer.
The hard-right leader walked out of government with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement in August, expecting to trigger a national election that polls predicted he would win.
Instead, 5-Star hooked up with the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), shunting Salvini into opposition.
In Umbria, the new 5-Star/PD alliance appears to have failed its first electoral test.
Donatella Tesei, backed by the League, the far-right Brothers of Italy and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, will be elected governor with 56.5 to 60.5% of the vote, according to an exit poll for state broadcaster RAI.
Vincenzo Bianconi, leader of a civic alliance backed by 5-Star and the PD, will get 35.5 to 39.5%, while Claudio Ricci, a right-wing independent candidate, is seen at 1.5 to 4.5%.
The League chief had criss-crossed landlocked Umbria for weeks, promoting his national pledge to introduce a flat-tax rate many economists say Italy cannot afford, but which the League insists is needed to revive the sluggish economy.
His message found fertile ground in Umbria, where output slumped 15.6% in the decade after the 2007 financial crisis, compared with a 5.2% slide across Italy, according to Bank of Italy data.
Umbria marks the eighth straight victory for the centre-right in regional ballots since the last national election in March 2018.
More important tests lie ahead that could potentially undermine the new national government.
In December, the poor southern region of Calabria goes to the polls and it will be the turn on Jan. 26 of Emilia Romagna, a northern region with more than four times the population of Umbria and which is the historic heartland of Italy’s left.
Opinion polls show the League, with its anti-migrant, anti-tax message, has shed little support since it lost power nationally, and remains easily Italy’s most popular party, with around 30% of the vote.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-politics-umbria/italys-salvini-set-for-victory-in-umbria-local-vote-exit-poll-idUSKBN1X60SZ