The first projections have confirmed the clear victory of the right-wing camp around the far-right Fratelli d’Italia in the parliamentary elections in Italy. According to broadcaster Rai, the Fratelli Giorgia Melonis received 24.6 percent of the votes for the Senate, significantly improving the result of 2018 (4.3). As leader of the strongest party, Giorgia Meloni could lead the future government – the 68th in the history of the republic – as Italy’s first female prime minister.
The Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) were recently able to benefit from their role as the only significant opposition to the multi-party government led by the internationally highly respected Mario Draghi. The allies, on the other hand, slipped significantly in favor of the voters: According to the projections, the right-wing populist Lega of ex-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini came to 8.5 percent (2018: 17.6), the conservative Forza Italia of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to 8.0 percent (2018: 14.4).
The data released so far consistently indicates that the right-wing alliance has won an absolute majority of seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. According to calculations by the Rai television station, the right-wing alliance will win 111 to 131 seats in the 200 Senate seats and between 227 and 257 in the 400 seats in the House of Representatives. So far, however, the broadcaster has only referred to post-election surveys, not extrapolations.
In Sunday’s election, more than 50 million Italians were called upon to vote for parties and candidates for both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The votes for the Senate were counted first, which is why extrapolations were available first. An official result is not expected until Monday.
The right-wing bloc went into the election as the favourite. The political rivals of the left and center parties did not pull together in the election campaign. The electoral alliance of the Social Democrats of former Prime Minister Enrico Letta with left-wing parties and Greens saw forecasts at 25.5 to 29.5 percent. The Five Star Movement, which started alone, came up with 13.5 to 17.5 percent. In the 2018 election, she had become the strongest party. The central alliance lagged behind at 6.5 to 8.5 percent.
The Melonis party is often described as post-fascist. It is one of the successor parties to the MSI movement, which was founded by former officials of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) after the end of World War II. Meloni is committed to the roots of her party and does not condemn fascism outright. The Fratelli d’Italia, founded in 2012, use a flame in their logo that is reminiscent of Mussolini and is a symbol of the right. Meloni says she’s “proud” of it.
The 45-year-old was more moderate in the election campaign. She also tried to allay concerns abroad about right-wing parties taking over government and assured that Italy would remain a reliable partner. She also rejected the fact that an election victory for the Fratelli could lead to an authoritarian turn or Italy’s exit from the European Union and the common currency, the euro.
Europe’s right congratulates Meloni
Politicians from the German AfD, the right-wing national Rassemblement National from France and the Polish PiS congratulated Meloni on his election victory. “We’re celebrating with Italy!” Wrote AfD member of parliament Beatrix von Storch on Twitter. Referring to the recent elections in Sweden, in which the right was also successful, von Storch wrote: “Sweden in the north, Italy in the south: left-wing governments are something of the past.” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote: “Congratulations @Giogia Meloni”.
French MEP Jordan Bardella from Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) also wrote in the short message service that the Italians had given European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “a lesson in humility”. The German politician said last week that her agency had “tools” if Italy, under a right-wing government, failed to comply with EU rules. “No threat of any kind can stop democracy.”