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ROME – Thousands of Romans gathered in front of City Hall on Saturday morning to protest the state of the Italian capital, where garbage is piled up in streets filled with potholes, become a danger for cars but a refuge for wild boars, and where the public buses catch fire.
Protesters were particularly unhappy with Virginia Raggi, who in 2016 became the first female mayor of the ancient city, but has since become a mockery of her inability to halt the decline of the city.
"Rome says enough!" They chanted.
"I am 66 years old and I have never seen a dirtier and more disorganized city," said Franco Montini, one of the protesters.
The rally was organized by a group of worried townspeople who used Facebook and word of mouth to spread the word. Saturday's protesters shared stories about the daily inconveniences of living in Rome, which many described as "a disaster".
Laura Tolino, 55, said it was "hard to find anyone who admits to voting" for Ms. Raggi. The students waved placards comparing the cobbled streets of Rome to Swiss cheese. A woman waved a broom with a sign saying "a very useful object, but perhaps unknown in Rome". Others have just submitted photos of garbage.
However, some of Raggi's critics have made more troubling accusations to the mayor this week after police arrested four migrants in connection with the rape and murder of a 16-year-old Italian in a Roman neighborhood increasingly homeless. laws.
Ms. Raggi is already facing charges of lying to anti-corruption investigators, which she denies, but if she is sentenced in November, she may resign.
Many Liberal organizers and rally participants asked to be evicted by Ms. Raggi, but if they got what they wanted, they might not like what was coming next. The increasingly popular and anti-immigrant party of the League, led by the country's Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, could benefit from early elections.
"It's a danger," admitted Giulio Pelonzi, a member of the municipal council of the Italian Democratic Party, who, like Rome, is in a catastrophic situation.
