Italy’s left insists far-right isn’t destined to win vote

By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Italy’s Democratic Party leader is galvanizing center-left voters, trying to confound opinion polls that indicate a right-wing alliance is headed to triumph in this month’s parliamentary elections. Former Premier Enrico Letta told a rally Tuesday evening that “no destiny is written” already for the Sept. 25 elections. His chief rival, far-right leader Giorgia Meloni, is intent on becoming the first woman to hold Italy’s premiership. An opinion poll published Tuesday has Meloni’s nationalist Brothers of Italy party and Letta’s Democrats running neck and neck. But Meloni has two key campaign allies, including anti-migrant leader Matteo Salvini and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi. Letta failed to secure similarly sized campaign partners on the left.