Italy’s rebranded Lega seeks national posture for 2018 vote

MILAN – The once-secessionist Northern League has dropped “Northern” from its logo as it seeks to present itself as a national party in next year’s parliamentary vote.

Party leader Matteo Salvini unveiled the new logo — “Lega” — on Thursday. Below it is his name as the party’s candidate for premier

Salvini said he expected to win over 20 per cent of the vote and to lead a centre-right coalition that includes Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.

Salvini, who has been campaigning hard in southern Italy, said the League was offering its platform “not just to part of the country, but to 60 million Italians.”

The League’s anti-migrant policies have been viewed as xenophobic, and Salvini in the past has been greeted by jeers outside the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.