(Bloomberg) -- Giorgia Meloni’s candidate for the governorship of the Liguria region has won the election by a narrow margin, strengthening the Italian premier’s government as it tries to weather ongoing turbulence.
Marco Bucci, the center-right candidate who took the field after Giovanni Toti resigned amid allegations of corruption, came in with 48.8% of the vote, according to Interior Ministry figures. Center-left candidate Andrea Orlando came in second with 47.3%.
The election was seen as a test for Meloni, who held a large-scale rally in support of Bucci late last week. She lost her former culture minister in a high-profile scandal involving allegations of impropriety last month, and has been under pressure to deliver a closely watched budget as the squeeze on the country’s public accounts continues amid scrutiny from Brussels.
Meloni’s much-publicized plan to resettle some asylum seekers to Albania also ran into trouble when a court blocked the measure this month. The government responded by passing a decree that, in its view, would resume resettlement. To date, no further asylum seekers have been sent to Albania.
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