Rome immigrants vote in city poll

Candidates have pledged to work for the interests of all immigrants

People in Rome have gone to the polls - although no Italians took part in Sunday's election.

Immigrants living in the capital were choosing four representatives on the city council.

Some 30,000 immigrants have registered to vote and many hope that the ballot will be the first step towards them receiving full local voting rights.

At stake are seats on each of Rome's 20 municipalities. Results are expected on Monday.

Among the 50 candidates are a Romanian law student, a Pakistani businessman and a Ukrainian nurse, reflecting the diversity of Rome's new population.

There are more than 100 ethnic groups represented in Rome.

Limited rights

The potential councillors have canvassed first and foremost their own ethnic groups, but all have pledged to work for the interests of all immigrants.

At least one of the seats must go to a female candidate even if she is not among the top four.

There has been criticism that while the four immigrants chosen will participate in all council meetings and can propose local legislation, they cannot cast a vote in the council.

The BBC's Frances Kennedy in Rome says immigrant representatives hope that the vote will be a step towards giving immigrants full voting rights in local elections - but that requires national legislation.

Last October the leader of the right-wing National Alliance party tabled a proposal to this effect.

The idea caused a split in the centre -right coalition and was criticised by many of the party faithful.