Mussolini granddaughter runs for mayor

The granddaughter of wartime Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini today said she is running to be mayor of Rome in elections next month.

Alessandra Mussolini ran in the April 9 and 10 parliamentary elections with a small right-wing party supporting conservative Premier Silvio Berlusconi. But her party failed to make the threshold necessary to send politicians to parliament.

“My bid for Rome mayor certainly is fully confirmed,” Mussolini said in a statement.

At least two other members of Berlusconi’s conservative coalition are running in the May 28 and 29 vote. Mussolini urged the centre-right coalition to unite behind one candidate, indicating she might step aside if the centre-right agreed on a single candidate.

She said a single candidate was the only hope to defeat Mayor Walter Veltroni of the centre-left.

Veltroni, a former deputy premier, is considered the front-runner.

Mussolini ran for mayor of Naples a decade ago, losing to a centre-left opponent.

Mayoral races are scheduled in several cities, including Rome and Milan, next month. Run-offs, if necessary, will be held on June 11.