Far-right candidate Giorgia Meloni wins historic victory in Italy

The leader of the Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia) party celebrated the unprecedented result obtained and tried to reassure voters who did not vote for her party.

The post-fascist leader Giorgia Meloniwhose Brothers of Italy party (Fratelli d’Italia) won a large victory in the elections Sunday’s legislative elections, claimed the role as future head of government and promised to work for all Italians.

In her first speech after the historic triumph, the leader of Fratelli d’Italia celebrated the unprecedented result obtained and tried to reassure voters who did not vote for his party.

“We are not a point of arrival, but a point of departure (…) Italy has chosen us and we are not going to betray it (…) we will govern for everyone”, he said.

THE far right conquered on Sunday the third largest economy in the European Union (EU), which for the first time since 1945 will be ruled by a post-fascist leader.

Meloni’s formation, which comes from the neo-fascist tradition, has consolidated itself as the biggest force in the country, going from a modest 4.3% obtained four years ago to 22-26%, an unprecedented result, according to the results of word of mouth. urn. “Italians sent a clear message of support for a right-wing government led by the Brothers of Italy,” he said.

The post-fascist party easily outnumbers the far-right allies of Matteo Salvini’s League (8.5-12.5%) and Forza Italia (6-8%) of conservative tycoon Silvio Berlusconi.

For the first time since the Second World War, a neo-fascist party will rule Italy, thanks to the fact that it presented itself with a right-wing coalition that would obtain in total between 36.5% and 46.5% of the votes.

“We have a clear advantage, both in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate,” celebrated Salvini on Twitter.

The Democratic Party (PD), the main leftist formation, was unable to mobilize the electorate to stop the advance of the extreme right, and had to settle for a figure that fluctuates between 17% and 21%.

The anti-system of the 5 Star Movement (M5E) obtained between 13.5% and 17.5% of the votes, below the historic mark of more than 30% reached in 2018, but above what the opinion polls pointed out.

Why was Giorgia Meloni elected?

The dizzying rise of Giorgia Meloni is largely due to the fact that she was the only one who opposed the government of economist Mario Draghi for 18 months, which favored her in collecting the discontent of Italians in the face of inflation, war and restrictions during the pandemic.

Founded in late 2012 with former Berlusconi supporters and figures from the neo-fascist right, the formation has surpassed Enrico Letta’s Democratic Party (PD), which it established with only an alliance with a small sector of the environmentalist left.

The 45-year-old post-fascist leader, admirer during her youth in Benito Mussolini and known for her direct and effective language since her years as a student leader in Rome, she could also become the first woman to assume the post of head of government in Italy.

Along with her allies, she promises tax cuts and a blockade of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, as well as an ambitious family policy to raise the birth rate in one of the world’s oldest countries.

The victory of a anti-european and nationalist leader raises many questions on the continent and changes the face of Italy, since it would call into question its position on the European Union, as Giorgia defends the revision of its treaties and even its replacement by a “confederation of sovereign States”.

The post-fascism representative, who is not afraid to defend a pure and hard right, identifies with the motto “God, country and family” and promises to fight against gay pressure groups and “gender theories”.

“Giorgia Meloni has shown the way to a proud, free Europe of sovereign nations, capable of cooperating for the security and prosperity of all”, reacted on Twitter the Spaniard Santiago Abascal, of the ultraconservative Vox.

The winner of the elections becomes a key figure for a radical right-wing axis in Europe, which passes through Sweden, Poland and Hungary.

“We need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe,” reacted a spokesman for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The government that comes out of the elections will take office at the end of October and will have a path full of obstacles and without much room for manoeuvre. It will have to manage the crisis caused by rampant inflation, while Italy is already collapsing under a debt that represents 150% of GDP, the highest in the euro zone, behind Greece.

Source: AFP