The far right triumphs in Italy’s parliamentary elections. Giorgia Meloni from a party rooted in fascism can now take over the government.
The election victory of Giorgia Meloni and her radical right-wing party, Fratelli d’Italia, provoked jubilation and satisfaction among their right-wing allies in Europe, but above all it caused concern in many places. The nationalist and EU skeptic was clearly the strongest force in the election. According to projections from Monday morning, the “Italian brothers” received more than 26 percent of the votes.
Due to the peculiarities of Italian electoral law, the entire legal alliance will in future have a clear, absolute majority in parliament.
“Today we made history,” tweeted the winner that night. She will probably become the first female prime minister in the history of Italy if the Fratelli agree on a governing coalition with their partners Lega (almost 9 percent) and Forza Italia (a good 8 percent), who have clearly shrunk in the voters’ favour.
In terms of foreign policy, Meloni is considered pro-Western and a supporter of NATO. She emphasizes her support for Ukraine, which is being attacked by Russia, which many also attribute to her ties to the Polish ruling party PiS. Meloni is also known for her criticism of the EU institutions. In Brussels, she wants to renegotiate the conditions of the Corona reconstruction fund. She has also announced a hard hand against Mediterranean migrants. Meloni is opposed to progressive demands such as the right to be adopted by same-sex partners. She rejects gender issues.
“Meloni takes Italy,” was the headline in the liberal daily La Repubblica on Monday after a long election night. A centre-left alliance with the Five Star Movement (around 15 percent), a center group (just under 8 percent) and led by the Social Democrats (PD) (around 26 percent) failed to stop the right. PD leader Enrico Letta announced on Monday that he would step down from the party leadership.
The right in Europe cheer
France’s right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen tweeted her congratulations and wrote that Meloni had withstood “the threats of an anti-democratic and arrogant European Union”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Meloni on his election success. “Bravo, Giorgia! A more than deserved victory,” wrote the right-wing populist on his Facebook page on Monday. Orban maintains a very good relationship with Meloni, but also with the other two leaders of the legal alliance, Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi.
AfD politicians and the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also congratulated.
Meloni: “Night of Salvation”
Meloni spoke early in the morning of a “Night of Pride” and a “Night of Redemption”. The nationalist, whose Fratelli is a successor party to the MSI movement founded by fascists and those loyal to Mussolini and who still have a flame reminiscent of the dictator in their coat of arms, said: “We have to be proud again to be Italians.” The election victory after a steep rise in recent years is “not the goal, but the beginning”.
The 45-year-old benefited from a great disenchantment with politics on the part of the Italians. An extremely low voter turnout of just 63.9 percent – 9 percentage points less than in the 2018 parliamentary election – means a negative record. In some regions, especially in the south of the country, almost every second adult did not vote.
It will be a few weeks before Italy has a new government. Coalition negotiations can only begin once the new parliament has started work in mid-October.
concern abroad
Foreign countries now want to look closely at developments in Italy. The concern is sometimes great. “In Europe we have a set of values and of course we will be mindful that these values regarding human rights and the right to abortion are respected by everyone,” French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne told BFMTV on Monday.
The federal government did not want to comprehensively assess the outcome of the election. “Italy is a very pro-Europe country with very pro-Europe citizens. And we assume that this will not change,” said Deputy Government Spokesman Wolfgang Büchner.
Source: Stern
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