Over the summer, Italy saw its government collapse. Caretaker Prime Minister Mario Draghi was forced to resign after losing support in Parliament, triggering elections. Already favoured to win during the campaign, Giorgia Melon’s party confirmed the win on Sunday night. That victory was secured with 26% of the vote.
For the first time since World War Two, Italy will have a far-right government. Indeed, Meloni is likely to form an alliance with other right-wing parties. Those include anti-immigration leader Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi from Forza Italia.
Not only that, but Italy will also have its first female Prime Minister. Some are sceptical about Meloni; others are delighted to have change.
Fratelli d’Italia: a new Mussolini in power?
With Meloni winning such an important chunk of the power, many are now questioning whether she is going to be a new Mussolini. Even with a multitude of governments since the end of WW2, Fratelli d’Italia’s win is significant in Italian politics. Italy’s political landscape has well and truly changed since that conflict. Indeed, Italy used to be governed by mainly Christian Democratic parties until the 90s.
However, with the many crises faced by Europe in recent years, it is no surprise to see the emergence of such parties in government.
Today, the centre and moderate right-wing parties are taking a backseat in Italian politics. After the defeat, Enrico Letta, leader of Italy‘s centre-left Democratic Party, said he would not take part in any of the party’s future leadership contest.
While Meloni has tried to distance herself from fascist ideas that have been circling, she still embraces an old slogan reflecting the past. Indeed, with ‘God, fatherland and family’, people still question her move away from such ideas.
What are Fratelli d’Italia’s views?
It seems Fratelli d’Italia’s main ideologies are in line with far-right ideas. Indeed, Meloni is not one to shy away from criticising the European Union. She has publicly criticised the stance the EU has taken towards Poland and Hungary. Furthermore, she calls for the EU to be more political and less bureaucratic.
While she has not ruled out the idea of following in the steps of the UK and leaving the European Union, Brussels is watching Meloni’s new government. The European Commission says it hopes for a ‘constructive relationship’.
When it comes to immigration, Meloni is strict. She wants to control immigration and regulate irregular migration. This is a problem for Italy as they were badly affected by the 2015/2016 migrant crisis. Italy is one of the most favourable entry points into Europe along with Greece and other southern European countries.
As with many of the politicians right now, Meloni has heavily campaigned on the crises that face Europeans today. While she has had a more favourable view of Vladimir Putin in the past she has pledged to living up to Italy’s NATO commitments.
Meloni has expressed anti LGBTQ+ sentiments before and warned against Muslim migrants. It will be interesting to see in which direction Meloni takes her party and new government.
Shift in political attitudes across the EU
What Meloni’s win shows is that there is no doubt that right wing parties are on the rise across Europe. However, that is a relatively normal trend after the crises that the EU has faced over the last two years. As political scientists have observed, populist parties thrive on crisis and the EU is not short of those. People’s lives have been turned around by the COVID-19 pandemic and now the EU is faced with a living crisis. Simply in the last two years.
Indeed, in France we have observed the spectacular rise of Marine Le Pen. Since the 2015/2016 migration crisis she has been doing really well in the polls in France. That was shown earlier in April where she won 41% of the vote against the 58% of Macron.
Meloni’s party has also experienced spectacular growth. In the last election they brought back 4% of the vote compared to 26% in the most recent election.
Across the EU countries are facing far right growth. Poland, Hungary have strong right wing governments. Spain is seeing the rise of Vox. Today it is clear that there is a political shift happening, not only in the EU but around the world.
What happens next in Italy?
As with most parliamentary democracies the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, will nominate Meloni to form a government. However, that is unlikely to happen until October. When nominated by the president, she is likely to form a government including Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini.
Indeed, Salvini has expressed his enthusiasm at the idea of working closely with Meloni. In an interview, he said he would work with Meloni to form a ‘a long-lasting, stable government.’ Italy has a history of short governments.
This will be the most right-wing government that Italy has seen since the end of WW2.
