Ex-Obama campaigner voted head of Italy’s Democratic Party

Elly Schlein, a 37-year-old US-Italian national and longtime left-wing political operative who worked on two presidential campaigns for former US President Barack Obama, defied polls to become the first woman to head Italy’s opposition Democratic Party. Schlein’s surprise victory Sunday over the popular governor of Emilia-Romagna, a traditional left-wing stronghold, is attributed to support from women and youth in the rank-and-file, while the party apparatus largely supported Stefano Bonaccini. Schlein claimed 54 per cent of the vote to Bonaccini’s 46 per cent. “We will be a big problem” for Premier Giorgia Meloni, Schlein said to supporters, pledging to help the most vulnerable and shore up the labour market with better-paying, secure jobs. Schlein took an immediate swipe at Meloni for her far-right government’s anti-migration policies, saying that the shipwreck deaths Sunday of dozens off southern Italy “weighs on the conscience of those who only weeks ago approved a decree whose only goal is to hinder rescues at sea.” Schlein called instead for a system that allows migrants to legally apply for entry into all European nations and for the EU to invigorate its humanitarian search-and-rescue mission. Schlein takes over a badly splintered party that failed miserably to mount a credible campaign against Meloni in last fall’s elections, leading the PD’s former leader to step down.