Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Italy’s far-right, has declared victory in the country’s election and is on track to become the nation’s first female prime minister.
It is widely anticipated that Ms. Meloni will establish Italy’s most conservative government since World War II.
As the EU’s third-largest economy, this will scare a large portion of Europe.
After the vote, however, Ms. Meloni stated that her Brothers of Italy party would “govern for everyone” and would not betray the faith of the people.
“Italians have issued a clear message in support of a right-wing government led by Brothers of Italy,” she told reporters in Rome while holding a sign that read “Thank you, Italy.”
She is projected to receive 26% of the vote, surpassing her nearest challenger from the center-left, Enrico Letta. Mr. Letta told reporters on Monday that the win of the far-right was “a terrible day for Italy and Europe” and that his party would give “strong and intransigent opposition.”
Ms. Meloni’s right-wing alliance, which includes Matteo Salvini’s ultra-right League and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia, will dominate both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies with approximately 44% of the vote.
The stunning triumph of her party in the election obscured the fact that her allies did poorly, with Mr. Salvini’s party falling below 9% and Forza Italia performing even worse. Four years earlier, the Brothers of Italy received little more than 4% of the vote. This time, however, the party profited from not participating in the July collapse of the national unity government.
In constituencies where they were able to field a cohesive candidate, however, their opponents on the left and center were unable to agree on a common position and ran independently.
Giorgia Meloni is set to become prime minister, but Sergio Mattarella will have to designate her, which is unlikely to occur until late October.
She has worked hard to soften her image by emphasizing her support for Ukraine and watering down anti-EU rhetoric, but she leads a party that has its roots in a post-war organization that grew out of the fascists of dictator Benito Mussolini.
In a raucous speech to Spain’s far-right Vox party earlier this year, she outlined her priorities: “Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology… no to Islamist violence, yes to secure borders, no to mass migration… no to large international finance… no to Brussels bureaucrats!”
With 26% of the vote, the center-left alliance lagged far behind the right, and Democratic Party representative Debora Serracchiani remarked that the right “had the majority in parliament, but not in the country.”
In reality, the left failed to organize a strong challenge with other parties following the collapse of Italy’s 18-month unity government, and officials were pessimistic even before the election. The Five Star Movement, led by Giuseppe Conte, gained third place by a large margin but did not agree with Enrico Letta on immigration and minimum wage policies, although having several in accord.
Participation reached a record low of 63.91%, nine points lower than in 2018. Voting rates were particularly low in the southern regions, notably Sicily.
Italy is a founding member of the European Union and NATO, and Ms. Meloni’s rhetoric on the EU places her near Viktor Orban, the populist leader of Hungary.
Both of her allies have had close links to Russia. Mr. Berlusconi, 85, asserted last week that Vladimir Putin was coerced into invading Ukraine, although Mr. Salvini has questioned the efficacy of Western sanctions against Moscow.
Ms. Meloni desires a reconsideration of the Italian changes agreed to with the EU in exchange for over €200 billion (£178 billion) in post-Covid recovery grants and loans, citing that the energy crisis has altered the situation.
Prof. Leila Simona Talani of King’s College London feels that the future Italian administration would confront several major problems, as Italy is the second most indebted nation in the eurozone.
“They have no economic experience. As a result of tax cuts, Italy will have less revenue and will enter a recession, causing difficulties in the financial markets and Europe. How will they get the funds to combat the rising cost of energy?”
Balazs Orban, the longtime political director of the Hungarian prime minister, was quick to applaud Italy’s right-wing parties: “We need more than ever friends who share the same vision and attitude to Europe’s difficulties.”
In France, Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally stated that Italian voters had taught Ursula von der Leyen a lesson in humility. She had previously stated that Europe possessed the “means” to respond if Italy continued in a “difficult direction.”
Prof. Gianluca Passarelli of Rome’s Sapienza University told that he believed she would avoid rocking the boat on Europe and instead focus on other topics: “I think we’ll see greater limits on civil rights and LGBT and immigrant policy.”
Mr. Salvini hopes to return to the interior minister to stop migrant vessels from Libya.
This election has resulted in a one-third reduction in the size of each house, which looks to have helped the winning parties.
YouTrend predicts that the right-wing alliance might hold up to 238 of the 400 seats in the House of Representatives and 112 of the 200 seats in the Senate. The composition of the House and Senate is not yet known.
The center-left is forecast to have 78 seats in the House and 40 seats in the Senate.
