Francesco Rutelli recently an-nounced his decision to run for mayor of Rome for the third time. After testing the political climate of the capital, the 53-year-old centre-left politician said, ‘This is going to be a tough battle and nothing should be taken for granted. I am proud to have received so much support and encouragement’.
Serving Rome as mayor in 1993 and 2001, Rutelli will be running on the Democratic Party ticket. Meanwhile, Gianni Alemanno will run for mayor on behalf of the centre-right Freedom People’s Party—for the second time. While Rutelli and Alemanno are the leading candidates, several others will be joining them in the mayoral race.
Centre-right candidates include Luciano Ciocchetti for the Union of Christian Democrats, Francesco Storace for the Right and Raffaele D’Ambrosio for the Autonomy Movement. Willer Bordon for the Consumer’s Democratic Union; a kung fu teacher from Rome, Serenetta Monti, who will run on Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment ticket; and Franco Grillini of the Socialist Party number among the centre-left candidates.
