Meet Rome’s first female mayor

Meet Rome’s first female mayor

The first female mayor in Rome's 2700 year history has told Euronews that her two main priorities are tackling debt and public spending.

Virginia Raggi from Italy's populist Five Star Movement took the Italian capital with two thirds of the vote in a run-off on Sunday.

Raggi has given an exclusive interview to Euronews.

"We will begin by tackling excessive public spending," she said. "After a two-and-a-half year Commission on spending, we think this amounts to 1,200 million euros a year. We have to claw back this wasted money and let people benefit from it."

"There is the huge issue of renegotiating the city of Rome's debt. This currently stands between 13 and 16 billion euros."

"We have to carry out an audit, to understand exactly what has gone on and then renegotiate the interest rates."

The Five Star Movement
The anti-establishment Five-Star Movement trounced Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in local elections.

Five Star won in 19 of the towns where it had got through to the second round.

Its successes in Rome and Turin could provide a springboard for a bid for the national elections in 2018.

Who is Virginia Raggi?
Raggi won Sunday's runoff contest with two-thirds of the vote, beating Roberto Giachettil of Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party.

Former local councillor
Has become one of the best-known faces in Italian politics after a few months campaigning
Raggi said, "A new era is beginning with us. We will work to bring back legality and transparency to the city's institutions."

Five Star in five
Feeds off popular anger over issues like graft
Aiming to establish itself as the main opposition to the governing coalition of Matteo Renzi.
Won 19 out of 20 towns where its candidates stood for mayor.
Female Five Star candidate Chiara Appendino named mayor in Turin
Success could provide a springboard for the movement to make a play in the 2018 general election.

What about Matteo Renzi?
The centre-left Democratic Party of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was trounced in the weekend votes, although it held on to power in the key cities of Milan and Bologna.

Source: BBCnews