rome regional ballot sicily weekend serve dress rehearsal forthcoming general election political dynamics mediterranean island match play national stage bolster return four-times prime minister silvio berlusconi campaign trail resurgent centre-right look reclaim supremacy sicily show years scandals force reckon face fierce opponent anti-establishment 5-star movement never control italian region hop victory sunday might propel success next year parliamentary election meanwhile centre-left head sicilian national governments succumb feud leftist rival fratricidal struggle look likely wreck chance regain power sicily one poor regions europe rank 237 263 european union competitiveness rank become byword bloat public payrolls wasteful administration ever-present scourge corruption organize crime also see bellwether national politics centre-right 61 seat offer 2001 national election berlusconi zenith power 2012 mood country change sicily shift towards centre-left foreshadow bloc subsequent victory five months late national level 5-star hop political wind blow favor voters ready embrace manifesto focus fight graft promote green energy offer universal income support poor vote november like referendum ... choose future past legality corruption say luigi di maio 5-star new national leader campaign relentlessly sicily weeks final opinion poll publish blackout impose oct. 23 put centre-right candidate nello musumeci 33 percent 31.5 percent 5-star giancarlo cancelleri centre-left fabrizio micari see take 16 percent ahead leftist claudio fava since release last survey musumeci come pressure candidates list criminal record await trial graft 5-star say scandal give major lift ahead sunday 5-star centre-right leaders criss-crossed sicily autumn head rule centre-left democratic party former prime minister matteo renzi keep low profile insist vote regional issue sicily certainly share problems island economic output fell 13 percentage point 2008 2015 take many years recover lose grind unemployment stand 22 percent twice national average youth unemployment 57.2 percent compare 36 percent nationally democratic party candidate suffer drub undermine renzi stand within party underscore cost pay civil war leave national vote due may 2018. although centre-right run unite internal divisions berlusconi resist campaign alongside matteo salvini leader main ally northern league dismiss populist unlike renzi 81-year-old berlusconi paper differences keep focus main rival sicilian elections resemble national vote one way palermo rome fight us 5-star experience competence ... utter poverty incompetence say palermo wednesday sicilian election hold mirror national trend