A peaceful and colourful demonstration was held in the Piazza Venezia in Rome on Sunday by the supporters of Romulo Sabio Salvador. Salvador, from the Philippines, is the man who won the most votes in the elections, held at the end of March, for the four immigrant representatives to sit on the Rome city council, but he had to step down in favour of Irma Tobia, the most voted woman on the list, also from the Philippines. The affirmative action regulations for the election specified that one woman had to be elected, even though she obtained fewer votes than the men.

The supporters of Salvador were protesting about the exclusion of their candidate, who with 2539 votes had more votes than all the other elected representatives put together (2392 in all).

The city council has promised to review the situation and hopes to come up with a solution satisfactory to all sides.