IRIA News

Giorgia Meloni is set to become Italy’s first female prime minister as her right-wing alliance is on course to victory with around  26 percent of the votes, the highest of any single party.

Meloni is the leader of Italy’s ultra-nationalist Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) party, whose roots are connected to Italy’s fascist regime. She is also leading a complicated alliance of Italy’s far-right parties. The far-right coalition includes the League led by Matteo Salvini and 86-year-old Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.

Her victory also makes history as the Italian voters have elected their country’s most right-wing government since 1946. The turnout was a record low for Italian elections standing at 63.91%. Italian broadcasters are predicting that the alliance would win somewhere around 227 to 257 seats in the 400 seats strong Italian parliament.

Meloni posted on Facebook that Italians had entrusted her with an “important responsibility,” adding that “Now it will be our task not to disappoint them”.

During her victory speech at the party’s headquarter in Rome, Meloni said that “If we are called to govern this nation, we will do it for everyone, we will do it for all Italians and we will do it with the aim of uniting the people (of this country),” she further added “Italy chose us. We will not betray (the country) as we never have.”

Known for her heavy roman accent, 45-years-old Meloni started her political career at the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), a party founded after World War II by the nostalgic former members of Benito Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship. The MSI morphed into the National Alliance (AN) in 1995 and Meloni became president of the AN’s youth movement at the age of 29, and entered the Italian parliament for the first time. AN allied with Forza Italia as Prime Minister Berlusconi appointed Meloni as Italy’s youngest-ever minister for youth affairs in 2008. in 2012, Meloni parted ways with the AN to form her own political party, Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy).

Giorgia Meloni has seen a tremendous rise in her party’s popularity over the course of a few years. She managed to get only 4% of the total votes in the 2018 elections.

Meloni’s strong and uncompromising narratives on immigration and the preservation of the Italy “Christian family” culture resonated well with the frustrated Italian population. “Yes to natural families, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology, yes to the culture of life, no to the abyss of death,” Meloni said in a June speech during a rally. “No to the violence of Islam, yes to safer borders, no to mass immigration,” she roared in front of a cheering crowd that gave her a standing ovation.

She chose to stay in opposition and refused to support the outgoing government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi despite receiving lucrative offers. This gave her a reputation for standing firm to her words, unlike her coalition partners, Salvini and Berlusconi.

Meloni is set to lead Italy’s 68th coalition government since 1946, facing economic and political threats. Italy has seen three consecutive coalition governments in the last three elections. The current elections were held six months earlier after Premier Mario Draghi’s government collapsed in late July this year. Draghi remains as a caretaker until a new government is sworn in.

World reacts to Meloni’s victory

The United States said that it will work with the new government in Italy on a full range of shared global challenges. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter that “Italy is a vital ally, strong democracy, and valued partner,” and the United States is “eager to work with Italy’s government on our shared goals: supporting a free and independent Ukraine, respecting human rights and building a sustainable economic future,” Blinken said.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron said, “The Italian people have made their democratic and sovereign choice. We respect it.” Macron stressed that “As countries that are neighbors and friends, we must continue to work together.”

German politicians expressed concerns over the far-right win in Italy as Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi have previously sought a close relationship with Russian President Putin. Christian Democratic Union party’s lawmaker Jurgen Hardt said that he was troubled by Giorgia Meloni’s “openly post-fascist statements.” Hardt told the German news agency DPA that racism and the exclusion of minorities can no longer have a place in Europe. “In Germany and Brussels, the new Italian government will be judged on its contribution to the future of Europe, compliance with the sanctions against Russia and progress in rebuilding the Italian economy,” Hardt added. Meloni’s opponents have also cautioned that her rise could push Italy into an illiberal bloc with Poland and Hungary.

Similarly, the Vice president of the European Parliament and member of the Social Democrats (SPD) party, Katharina Barley voiced concerns that Italy under Meloni’s leadership would align with Poland and Hungary. “The EU can only work if you try to apply common solutions that fit everyone. That means compromise. Our experiences with this sort of government is that they do not engage in compromises at all,’ she added.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki congratulated Meloni and described it as a “great victory”.

Balazs Orban, political director to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, praised Meloni’s win and tweeted: “Congratulations to Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi on the elections today! In these difficult times, we need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe’s challenges.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow wants to develop “constructive” ties with Rome. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “We are ready to welcome any political forces that are able to go beyond the established mainstream, which is filled with hate for our country… and show willingness to be constructive in relations with our country.”

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares warned that populist movements always surge during difficult times but always end poorly. “These are uncertain times and at times like this, populist movements always grow, but it always ends in the same way – in catastrophe because they offer simple short-term answers to problems which are very complex,” he told reporters.