Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi is expected to attend an anti-facist protest organised by the Democratic Party in Rome.
A staggering 20,000 people are expected to attend just one march by the National Association of Italian Partisans (ANPI) and ’Mai piu fascismo’ (Fascism Never Again), and three other demonstrations are planned in the Italian capital.
Ahead of the clashes police commissioner Guido Marino said: “We have two objectives – guarantee a high standard of counter-terrorism prevention and prevent violent groups from infiltrating the marches with negative consequences for order and security.”
The protests come after a shooting incident in the town of Macerata earlier this month in which six African migrants were injured, allegedly by a suspect aligned with Italy’s far-right, neo-fascist parties.
The ANPI march and the Fascism Never Again Committee will take place from 1pm to 5pm from Piazza della Repubblica to Piazza del Popolo.
Demonstrators will also march from Piazza Esquilino to Piazza Madonna di Loreto, from 2pm in a protest organised by Cobas to demand the abolition of the Jobs Act.
And demonstrations are also planned in Piazza Porta San Giovanni and at the CIE of Ponte Galeria, promoted by ‘Antagonist Groups’, according to Italian newspaper Ansa.
The planned demonstrations come just a week after anti-fascist protesters clashed with far-right parties in the cities of Venice, Naples and Bologna.
The bleak economic forecast and growing immigration concerns have resulted in toxic election campaigns for the upcoming vote amid fears of a revival of neo-fascist sentiment.
Tensions have risen across Italy ahead of the elections as right-wing Lega Nord Matteo Salvini has pledged large scale deportation of refugees.
He vowed to deport 500,000 migrants within five years if his party wins the election – including 100,000 in the first year.
Polls suggest the conservative coalition made up of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy!) and its far-right allies will win the most parliamentary seats, but probably will fall short of an outright majority.
In that case, President Sergio Mattarella could ask a centre-right figure to try to form a government, or he could turn to Luigi Di Maio, leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which looks set to become Italy’s largest party.
Before a poll blackout came into force on Saturday, 5-Star was polling at around 28 percent, ahead of the ruling PD on 23 percent and Forza Italia on 16 percent.