Romans will discover tonight whether the Eternal City has elected its first right-wing mayor since the fall of Fascism.

The balance of power was held last night by an antipolitics movement led by a comedian, amid a lower than expected turnout on the first day of run-off polls. Ballots close at 3pm today. The two main candidates are Francesco Rutelli, 54, of the centre-left Democratic Party, already twice mayor from 1993 to 2001, and Gianni Alemanno, 50, of the post-Fascist Alleanza Nazional (National Alliance) Party. Mr Alemanno’s group is part of the new Popolo della Libertà (Freedom Party movement led by the media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, which won the general election this month.

The key issue in the battle for Rome has been crime. Mr Alemanno has accused the Centre Left of giving its attention to film festivals and other cultural events, while neglecting crime linked to immigrants from Eastern Europe. The problem has been brought into focus by the rape and stabbing by a Romanian of an African woman this month and the rape and murder of a Italian woman by a Romanian in October.

Mr Rutelli has said that Mr Alemanno is sympathetic to extremist fascist groups, some of whom squat illegally in buildings in Rome, and to the antiRome Northern League, an ally of People of Liberty.

Both candidates have pledged subsidies for families with mortgages, big investments in housing and other benefits – promises they may find difficult to keep in office.

In the first round on April 13-14, Mr Rutelli won 45.8 per cent of the vote against 40.7 per cent for Mr Alemanno. Supporters of the neo-fascist La Destra, which took 3.4 per cent, can be expected to back Mr Alemanno. The ultra-Catholic UDC won 3.3 per cent, and the party has left voters to decide for themselves. Mr Rutelli and Mr Alemanno are Roman Catholics.

The outcome could hinge, however, on the antipolitical movement “Friends of Beppe Grillo”. Mr Grillo is a satirist and comedian who has attacked for years the corruption, privileges and ineptitude of Italian political parties. The movement took 2.7 per cent in the first round, and how these 40,473 people choose to vote could tip the scale one way or the other.

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