portrait
Status: 10/22/2022 3:35 p.m
Meloni ran for political office in Italy early on: in 2006 she became the youngest minister there. Now the head of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia is the first female prime minister. What does the 45-year-old stand for?
Almost exactly 30 years ago, Giorgia Meloni knocked on a door in Rome. She had decided to get involved in politics. The then 15-year-old was opened up and allowed to enroll in the youth organization of the “Movimento Sociale Italiano” (MSI), a party founded by fascists. That was in July 1992. Since Saturday, the native Roman has been Italy’s first female prime minister.
The Face of the Right
In three decades, Meloni has fought his way past men in patriarchal Italy and has become the face of the country’s right-wing. It is not clear why it was the heirs of the fascists who convinced Meloni, who was born on January 15, 1977. Meloni speaks of an “instinct decision”.
She does not want to confirm that the election was related to the communist father, who left the family early. However, their life experiences definitely shaped their political positions. The fact that she had to grow up without a father meant that she defended the “natural family”, which consists of a man and a woman, says Meloni.
Grew up in the working-class area
Giorgia and her sister Arianna were raised by their mother and grandparents in the working-class Garbatella district of Rome. The party became her second family, and political activism her priority. “If you have the ambition to change the world, there is no room for anything else,” she writes in her biography, which also comes across as a manifesto.
Principled, patriotic, hard-working – that’s how Meloni presents himself in retrospect. “I’ve done all sorts of jobs – from waitress to bartender,” she once said in an interview with Corriere della Sera. On her website she describes herself as a politician and journalist.
The MSI was renamed Alleanza Nazionale (AN) shortly after entering the government and was brought into government for the first time in 1994. Party leader Gianfranco Fini distanced himself from fascism in 2003 and described it as “absolutely evil”. Meloni has avoided making such a clear statement about the roots of her party to this day. She broke with her sponsor.
Youngest minister in Italy
In 2006 Meloni was elected to Parliament and two years later became the youngest Minister (Youth and Sport) in the history of Italy. It’s the only government experience she has at the national level. In 2012 she founded the Fratelli d’Italia party.
Meloni, who describes herself on Twitter as “always, everywhere and first and foremost Italian”, stands for clearly right-wing positions: She wants to ward off migrants – especially from Africa – and strengthen Italy as a nation state within the EU. She wants to crack down on crime and build new prisons.
Meloni opposes the right of homosexual couples to adopt children. She also sees no need to protect homosexuals or other minorities more against discrimination. She is against abortion – in her biography, Meloni writes that her mother was about to have an abortion herself when she was pregnant. In 2016 Meloni had a daughter whose father she is not married to.
A lot of what the 45-year-old says about herself can be summarized under one motto: What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. She tells of how she was bullied – for example as a girl on the beach by older boys who called her “fat lump” and shot her in the face with a volleyball. She also writes in her biography that she is afraid every day that others do not see her as equal and that she often feels inadequate.
Confident on stage
“But this fear is my strength,” she writes. “She’s why I’m so conscientious, so tenacious, so willing to sacrifice.”
During her performances, Meloni appears anything but insecure or anxious. She does not shy away from confrontation, appears self-confident and has strong opinions. Her critics’ arguments seem to bounce off her. She knows how to use her stage – be it on TV, in front of her followers or on social media.
Source: dpa