The extreme right conquered this Sunday the third economy of the European Union , with the historic victory of Giorgia Meloni ‘s party in the legislative elections in Italy, a country that for the first time since 1945 is about to be governed by a leader of the extreme right .
Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy, has established itself as the biggest force, going from a modest 4.3% obtained four years ago to 22-26%, an unprecedented result , according to exit data.
The far-right party far outnumbers its far-right allies in Matteo Salvini’s La Liga (8.5-12.5%) and conservative tycoon Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (6-8%).
For the first time in history since the Second World War , an extreme right-wing formation will govern Italy thanks to the fact that it was presented with a right-wing coalition that would obtain a total of between 36.5% and 46.5% of the votes.
“We have a clear advantage in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate,” Salvini rejoiced on Twitter.
The Democratic Party (PD), the main party on the left, failed to mobilize the electorate to stop the advance of the extreme right and had to settle for a figure that ranges between 17% and 21%. The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5E) obtained between 13.5% and 17.5% of the vote, below its historical score of more than 30% achieved in 2018, but better than estimated in the polls.
“According to the exit polls, it is a historic result . The right-wing coalition would obtain the highest percentage of votes ever recorded by right-wing parties in the history of Western Europe from 1945 to today,” the center of Italian CISE studies.
The dizzying rise of Meloni
Meloni’s vertiginous rise is due in large part to the fact that she was the only one who opposed the outgoing government of economist Mario Draghi for 18 months , which has favored her in collecting the discontent of Italians in the face of inflation, war and restrictions. for the pandemic.
The formation founded at the end of 2012 with former Berlusconi sympathizers and right-wing figures surpassed Enrico Letta’s PD, which only agreed to an alliance with a small sector of the environmental left.
The 45-year-old right-wing leader, an admirer of Benito Mussolini during her youth, known for her direct and effective language since her years as a student leader in Rome, could also become the first woman to reach the head of government in Italy.
Along with his allies, he promises tax cuts, a blockade of immigrants crossing the Mediterranean, as well as an ambitious family policy to boost the birth rate of one of the countries with the most elderly in the world.
An axis for a sovereign Europe
The victory of an anti-European and nationalist leader raises many questions in Europe and changes the face of Italy , as it would call into question its position on the European Union, as it advocates a review of its treaties and even its replacement by a “confederation of sovereign states”.
“In Europe everyone is worried about Meloni in the government (…) The party is over, Italy will start defending its own national interests,” he warned.
The representative of post-fascism, who is not afraid to defend a pure and hard right , identifies herself with the motto “God, country and family”, and promises to fight against gay pressure groups and “gender theories”.
“Giorgia Meloni has shown the way for a proud, free Europe of sovereign nations, capable of cooperating for the security and prosperity of all,” Spaniard Santiago Abascal, of the ultra-conservative Vox, reacted on Twitter.
The winner of the elections thus becomes a key figure for a radical right-wing axis in Europe that passes through Sweden, Poland and Hungary.
“We need friends more than ever who share a common vision and approach to Europe,” reacted a spokesman for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The government that emerges from the elections, which will take office at the end of October, will in any case have a road strewn with obstacles and without much room for manoeuvre. It will have to manage the crisis caused by rampant inflation, while Italy is already collapsing under a debt that represents 150% of GDP, the highest in the euro zone behind Greece.
