According to initial projections, the alliance around the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia won the parliamentary elections in Italy. / Giorgia Meloni close to victory in Italy
The winner took a few hours. Giorgia Meloni waited in the luxury hotel Parco dei Principi, the headquarters of the Brothers of Italy party on election night, until the projections left no doubt as to the clear success of the legal alliance. Then the 45-year-old appeared in front of the media, cheered on by her supporters – and clearly and confidently formulated her claim to lead the next government.
“The Italians gave a clear instruction in this general election. A clear instruction for a centre-right government led by the brothers of Italy,” she said.
Giorgia Meloni new primem inister? 17 percentage points ahead
According to projections by the state television broadcaster RAI, the right-wing alliance won the election by around 17 percentage points over the Democratic Party and its allies. The rights with Melonis brothers Italy, the Lega Matteo Salvinis and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia together come to around 43 percent.
The brothers of Italy are clearly the strongest force within the right-wing alliance with over 25 percent. As a single party, they received almost as many votes as the entire centre-left alliance around the Democrats (around 26 percent).
Meloni said it was a night of “pride and satisfaction” for her party. The right-wing politician complained that the election campaign was often aggressive against her and her brothers in Italy. But now she wants to be a head of government for everyone.
“It is important to understand that if we are called to lead this nation, then we will do it for everyone. We will do it for all Italians with the aim of uniting this people,” said the victor.
National pride and national identity
At the same time, Meloni promised her supporters in her nine-minute victory speech that national pride and national identity would play a more important role in Italy in the future.
“The big goal that we set ourselves in life and as a political force was that Italians can again be proud to be Italians and to wave the tricolore flag,” she said.
Meloni, who began her political work in neo-fascist parties, describes herself as a conservative. Her opponents accuse her of never having completely distanced herself from fascism. The news portal of the American television channel CNN writes that Italy is now getting the head of government furthest to the right since Benito Mussolini.
Democratic Party concedes defeat
The Democratic Party admitted defeat that night, only getting around 20 percent. The deputy boss Deborah Serracchiani was affected by the victory of the legal alliance and refrained from congratulating the winner.
“Tonight we cannot help but recognize the victory of the right, led by Giorgia Meloni. However, we think this is a sad day for the country,” Serracchiani said.
The Five Star Movement achieved a surprise success, receiving around 16 percent of the votes. With a left-wing populist program, the five stars were particularly successful in the poorer south of the country, where they even surpassed the right-wing alliance in some regions – to the delight of party leader Giuseppe Conte.
Historically low voter turnout
“It is a politically remarkable result. For us, this means that the fight against inequalities will be the guiding star for our work in the new legislative period,” said Conte.
In the political center, the left-liberal list Azione/Italia Viva achieved a respectable result with around 7.5 percent. She landed just behind Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. Within the legal alliance, the Lega is the big loser, according to projections it fell from 17 to under 9 percent.
All in an election where turnout has historically been poor. Only 63.8 percent of those entitled to vote voted – fewer than ever in Italian history.
