“The Prime Minister” and “Man of the Year”: Meloni in Italy

Giorgia Meloni has been in power in Italy for around 14 months at the head of a right-wing coalition. The poll numbers of her Fratelli d'Italia party have increased since then.

“Man of the Year” was the headline of the right-wing conservative Italian daily newspaper Libero in its issue of December 29, 2023. Below: A photo of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The 46-year-old is the first woman to hold this position in the history of the Italian Republic. She has been ruling Italy for around 14 months in a coalition of three right-wing parties: her Fratelli d'Italia, Matteo Salvini's Lega and Forza Italia, once founded by ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who died in June 2023.

Meloni shouldn't have anything against this title. Only a few days in office, she made it clear that she was “the Prime Minister”: “Il presidente del consiglio dei ministri” and not “la presidente,” as some had prematurely dubbed her. It's no surprise that Meloni has an ultra-conservative stance. In the election campaign in late summer 2022, she campaigned for herself with the slogan: “I am Giorgia, I am a woman, I am a mother, I am Italian and a Christian.” Meloni is often described – especially abroad – as a “post-fascist”. Your party, the Fratelli d'Italia, is the successor organization to the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), in which sympathizers and followers of the dictator Benito Mussolini gathered after the Second World War.

The fear of not being seen as an equal

It wasn't the fascist background of her party that made voters vote for Meloni. For many it was the lack of alternatives and frustration with the previous governing parties. You often hear in Italy: Meloni is one of us, she speaks like us, she understands us.

The Roman native comes from the working-class district of Garbatella. Her father was a communist and left the family early, so Giorgia and her sister grew up with their mother and grandparents, as Meloni describes in her autobiography. It also tells how she was bullied as a teenager and called a “fat lump.” The fear of not being seen as an equal is her strength today, writes Meloni.

At the age of 15, her political interest was awakened

At the age of 15, she laid the foundation for her political career and joined the MSI youth organization in 1992. In 2006, Meloni was elected to parliament for the first time, now as a member of the Alleanza Nazionale (AN), the successor to the MSI. In 2008, she made political history when she became the country's youngest minister and was responsible for youth and sport in Silvio Berlusconi's government. Four years later, in 2012, Meloni founded today's governing party, the Fratelli d'Italia.

Their political views are firmly on the far right. Meloni wants to reduce the number of migrants coming to Italy from Africa to as little as possible. She is strictly against abortion and opposes allowing homosexual couples to adopt children. You pr

In 2016 Meloni became the mother of a daughter. She separated from the child's father, Andrea Giambruno, a few weeks ago. A satirical program had published audio files in which the TV journalist made disgusting, raunchy and sexist comments to female colleagues. The country's solidarity then clearly rested with the head of government.

Your poll numbers have increased

Despite her popular success, Meloni is very cautious. She rarely gives interviews. She has built a circle of trusted people around herself – who are also her closest family circle. Meloni's brother-in-law, the hardliner Francesco Lollobrigida, holds the office of agriculture minister. Meloni's sister Arianna was recently appointed managing director of Fratelli d'Italia.

The Fratelli d'Italia's poll ratings have risen since it came to power. They are currently at 28.8 percent. In the election on September 25, 2022, they received around 26 percent of the votes. One reason that may contribute to the popularity: Giorgia Meloni is the first person in the office of head of government in a long time who was elected by the citizens for exactly this purpose. Mario Monti, Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni, Giuseppe Conte and Mario Draghi – they were all appointed heads of gover
nment without having previously applied for the office.

Test for the alliance in Rome

A position that also costs Meloni energy. The traditional press conference at the end of the year had to be postponed twice at short notice. It was said that the head of government had been suffering from the flu for around two weeks. The Italian press also reported dizziness and balance problems. The new date for the question and answer session with journalists is January 4th.

There are enough topics: Shortly before Christmas, the Italian Parliament rejected the reform of the Euro Rescue Fund (ESM), which the Euro states had been planning for years. In 2024, Italy will hold the presidency of the G7. And shortly before the summit in Apulia, the European elections are taking place at the beginning of June. Since the Italian government parties in Brussels are organized into different factions, the elections are likely to be a test for the alliance in Rome. From Almut Siefert