Election result - Italy slides to the far right

Giorgia Meloni campaigning in Palermo (Photo: Twitter)

Almost half of the people in Italy did not cast a vote. The largest party was that of the non-voters. The second strongest party in Italy will be the far-right "Fratelli d'Italia" around Giorgia Meloni (45). Italy has voted.

This is Giorgia Meloni

At 6.10 p.m. the Italian Ministry of the Interior publishes the official figures: The right-wing alliance of "Fratelli d'Italia", "Lega" and "Forza Italia" won 44 percent of the votes cast for the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the centre-left alliance 26 percent, the "Movimento 5 Stelle" achieved 15 percent, the centre alliance of "Azione" and "Italia Viva" just under 8 percent. The former foreign minister and shooting star of the previous election, Luigi Di Maio (36), is no longer represented in parliament.

Both chambers of the Italian Parliament were newly elected.

The new parliament is due to convene on 13 October. It could take several weeks before the government is sworn in. Traditionally in Italy, the party with the largest number of votes provides the prime minister or, now for the first time, the prime minister.

The first woman at the top in Italy

Italy gets a woman at the top. The right-wing balance of power has shifted since the last election. In the right-wing bloc, the "Fratelli d'Italia" are the clear winners with 26 percent (2018 elections: 4.3 percent). The "Lega" wins just under 9 per cent (2018: 17.6 per cent) and "Forza italia" 8 per cent (2018: 14.4 per cent).

giorgia meloni with her right partners, italy right — **Demonstrative unity on the outside: Salvini, Berlusconi and Meloni (from left), a photo from the election campaign**
*^{_{Screenshot: Twitter/Giorgia Meloni}}*

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The "Fratelli d'Italia" represent extreme nationalist, EU-critical and partly racist positions. They are one of the successor parties of the "Movimento Sociale Italiano" movement, which former functionaries of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (†1945) founded after the Second World War.

Meloni's first appearance after the election victory

#ElezioniPolitiche2022 #Meloni pic.twitter.com/ZVtLmYqPkI
- Giorgia Meloni 🇮🇹 ن (@GiorgiaMeloni) September 26, 2022

Your promise: After an "aggressive" election campaign, she now wants to be there for all people in Italy

Meloni acknowledges the roots of her party and does not condemn fascism outright. The logo of the "Fratelli d'Italia", founded in 2012, is a flame reminiscent of Mussolini, which is a symbol of the right. Meloni says she is "proud" of it.

During the election campaign, Meloni had repeatedly tried to allay concerns from abroad. Italy would remain a reliable partner, whether in the EU or Nato. Nevertheless, she has already announced that she will renegotiate Italy's positions in the EU.

Most recently, her coalition partner Silvio Berlusconi ranted in a talk show that his friend Putin had merely tried to bring "decent people" into government in Ukraine and had slipped into a dramatic situation. Putin fan Matteo Salvini of the "Lega" is against the Russia sanctions. Meloni, meanwhile, is committed to the leadership of Hungary's anti-democratic Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

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Their problem in the negotiations: Foreign countries know that Italy's governments only last a good year on average. That weakens any negotiating position. How stable the right-wing alliance is remains to be seen. Meloni's allies seem to be in trouble at the moment.

How stable is the right?

Berlusconi will be 86 in the next few days: if the political dinosaur convicted of tax evasion weakens, "Forza Italia" will have no reserve candidate. He himself wants the prestigious post of president of the Senate, but hardly anyone trusts him with the burden. Most recently, Berlusconi had surprisingly announced on election Sunday that Meloni "scared him a little".

orban congratulations, italy right — **Viktor Orbán's Politburo Congratulates Italy's Right on Twitter**
*^{_{Screenshot: Twitter}}*

Meloni's comrade-in-arms Salvini has an internal party problem after the loss of votes. Can he hold on to the leadership of the "Lega" after his party has lost a massive number of votes? A trial is currently underway in Sicily against the former interior minister for abuse of office and deprivation of liberty. Salvini had blocked a refugee ship in 2019. This is punishable by 15 years in prison in Italy.

The fact is: Meloni shuns negative headlines, wants to present the supposedly clean face of the Italian right to the world: But can she deny men the posts and still become prime minister? Italy is facing troubled times.