Italy elected on Sunday (25.Sep.2022) the right-wing coalition led by the FdI (Fratelli d’Italia or, in Portuguese, Brothers of Italy), of the right-wing Giorgia Meloni. The group obtained 44% of the votes, with 99.7% of the polls counted, according to data compiled by the interior Ministery in the early hours of this Monday (September 26th). With this, Italy should have the 1st female prime minister in its history – the name of the new premier will be indicated by the coalition.
Alone, the FdI received 26% of the vote. The growth of the acronym was meteoric, considering that 4 years ago, in the 2018 legislative elections, it obtained only 4.3% of the votes.
The right-wing coalition also includes La Lega (The League, in Portuguese), by Matteo Salvini, and Forza Italia (Força, Italy), by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. With the percentage of votes reached, the group will not need to negotiate its agendas with parliamentarians from other parties, as it obtained a majority in the Chamber and Senate.
In second place is the center-left slate led by Enrico Letta’s PD (Democratic Party), with 19%. In 3rd is the MS5 (Five Star Movement), by Giuseppe Conte, with 15.5%.
The abstention rate was 36.2%, the highest in history.
Scheduled for the 1st half of 2023, the elections were brought forward because of the resignation of Mario Draghi in July. He left the government after losing support from his base parties.
The formation of the new government could take months to complete.
WHO IS GIORGIA MELONI
Giorgia Meloni, 45, has a degree in journalism. She has a daughter with fellow journalist Andrea Giambruno, but is not married.
She is the leader of the FdI, which, according to Ambassador Rubens Ricupero, counselor emeritus of Cebri (Brazilian Center for International Relations), has a neo-fascist tradition and defends ideas typical of the radical right.
Defender of the traditional family, she is against LGBTQIA+ marriage and other group agendas. It is also against abortion.
According to the ambassador, the ideas currently defended by Meloni are the result of his creation. Abandoned by her father, her mother had to move to a neighborhood on the outskirts of Rome.”in which there was a great polarization between communists and neo-fascists”, said. “She started very early – at 15, 16 years old – as a neo-fascist militant.”
Ricupero stated that Meloni was a militant of the MSI (Italian Social Movement). The group was, in the mid-1990s, incorporated by the Forza Italiaby Berlusconi.
“In a way, Berlusconi was the man who promoted the normalization of fascism. That is, the acceptance of neo-fascists as a respectable force.”, said. “There was a group that later broke up and created Fratelli d’Italia. Among them was her, Giorgia Meloni.”
In addition to co-founding and chairing the FdI, Meloni is also at the head of the European Conservative and Reform Party. She has been a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies since 2006 and was Minister of Youth in Berlusconi’s 4th government (from May 2008 to November 2011).
In addition to the customs agenda, Ricupero lists 2 other topics that are dear to the right-wing alliance. The first is to be against immigration and refugees.
“This is a very important topic in Italy. Italy is the gateway [de refugiados na Europa]”, said. “THE Italy has this complaint from others [países] Europeans, says that Europeans do not fairly share this burden.” said.
The 2nd point is the relationship with the EU (European Union). “One of the characteristics of the Italian right is that it is Eurosceptic.”said the ambassador. “It’s her [Meloni] is close to Viktor Orbán [presidente da Hungria]she is close to the Polish government, she is very close to this group that is more on the fringes of the European Union”, continued. But, according to him, since he realized he could win the elections, Meloni has been softening his speech on this issue.
One of the concerns is Italy’s access to value from the EU’s post-pandemic recovery plan. The amount is released gradually and, if a country fails to comply with the agreement, payments are suspended.
“She says she’ll want to renegotiate [o plano]. And it seems that the European Union is willing, to save face, to accept some cosmetic changes, nothing radical. Just so she can say she left her mark.” said the ambassador.
According to Ricupero, Meloni “has always sounded very careful and gives no excuse for saying that, if she is elected, the European Union will suspend the money”.
Regarding the war in Ukraine, he follows the same line as Draghi: he condemns the Russian invasion, supports sanctions on Moscow and the sending of weapons to Kiev.
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