On the eve of next Sunday’s (25) parliamentary elections, the leaders of the right-wing coalition in Italy, which is poll favorite, held a big rally in Rome this Thursday (22), ending the campaign. To give strength to an old fan of Benito Mussolini. Giorgia Meloni is on her way to becoming the first post-fascist head of government to command a founding country of the European Union (EU).
Italian, mother and Christian. Who is Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the conservative Fratelli d’Italia party she founded, and who could be the first woman to rule the country at the age of 45? It works in alliance with veteran businessman Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative Forza Italia (FI) party and the anti-immigration League of former Eurosceptic Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, known for his tough policy against humanitarian ships rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean.
In a speech that lasted more than an hour, he said he was ready: “We are ready, summer on Sunday” and promised to defend Italy’s “national interests” before Europe. “We want a strong, serious and respected Italy on the international stage,” he said.
His party, considered far-right, has risen from 4% of the vote in 2018 to 25% of voting intentions for the election since Sunday. With a campaign around public safety, criticism of uncontrolled immigration, and the Islamization of Italy. Motto: God, country and family, in a secular state.
She doesn’t say she’s against abortion, but she wants to give women other options. Extremely conservative, Giorgia Meloni advocates full implementation of abortion law, emphasizing the right not to have abortions. However, access to abortion has become more complex in areas ruled by his party.
His political opponents accuse him of wanting to limit the rights of the LGBT+ community, for example.
The candidate with a chance to become prime minister also does not advocate exiting the euro and is opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, although these points were not unanimously received by the other leaders of the coalition of which he was a part and could win, with 46% of the Italian vote.
While leaving Europe is not in the potential prime minister’s plans, Giorgia Meloni dreams of a reformed Europe. “We want less Europe, but we want a smaller Europe,” he argues. Close to Hungary’s conservative Viktor Orban, for example, he wants to give more weight to countries to the east and south.
Meloni also has good relations with the far-right Spanish party Vox and, of course, talks about defending Italy’s interests as well as rebalancing forces in relation to the Franco-German axis.
fragmented left
The centre-left alliance, which includes the Democratic Party (PD) and small ecological and pro-European left parties, is poised to face the overwhelming advance of the right, judging by the poll numbers.
In the poll conducted on September 9, candidate Enrico Letta’s Democratic Party (PD) gained 20.5%, losing 2.5% compared to the end of the previous month. In the third place is the 5 Star Movement (M5S), which recently broke away from the alliance with the PD and received 14.5% of the voter preference.
All polls predict Girogia Meloni’s victory in Sunday’s legislative election. To international observers, the “Fratelli d’Italia” might be considered a post-fascist party, a code of etiquette that the candidate rejects and publicly condemns attacks on democracy.
An ally of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is the favorite to replace Mario Draghi, who stepped down after losing the parliamentary majority supporting his government. He’s racing against a left that seems to be torn apart in Italy. This prospect worries the pro-European camp, the third economic power of the eurozone.
youth in politics
Born in Rome, Giorgia Meloni got into politics early. At the age of 15, he joined “Fronte della Gioventù”, a youth group of the Italian Social Movement, a neo-fascist formation founded in 1946 after the Second World War and the dissolution of Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party, which he already owned. praised.
Meloni took over the leadership of the Movement at the age of 27 and was elected as a member of parliament two years later. At 31, he joined the so-called centre-right axis in the country during the Berlusconi government, becoming the youngest minister in the history of the Italian Republic.
At the age of 35, Meloni founded her own “Fratelli d’Italia” party, which later approached the ideas of the old Italian Social Movement.
Fear of a return to fascism, as in Italy, may seem exaggerated. But when the far-right candidate talks about replacing parliamentary democracy with “people’s democracy”, many Italians are worried. Giorgia Meloni has promised to initiate “a reform of Italian institutions” towards a presidential regime that guarantees “stability” in a country known for governmental instability.
Even if he had a legislative majority, if elected, could amend the articles of the Constitution, Giorgia Meloni wouldn’t have much room to maneuver to propose changes, because Italy almost ? 200 billion – already set for the next three years.
For many analysts, the participation rate should register a historically low index, below 70%.
source: Noticias
