by InTrieste
Italians voted Sunday, September 25, to usher in the country’s first government led by the far-right since World War II.
The victory of The Fratelli d’Italia party, headed by one-time Mussolini supporter Giorgia Meloni, brings eurosceptic populists to the heart of Europe.
Meloni is to take office in a coalition with the far-right League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia parties.
Ms. Meloni, 45, who’s campaign motto was “God, country and family”, hopes to become Italy’s first female prime minister.
Based on the provisional results, Meloni’s party is well ahead of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD), led by Enrico Letta, which secured around 19 per cent.
The centro-sinistra alliance of the PD and small left-wing parties obtained 26 per cent of the vote, with the PD coming in for widespread criticism for failing to form a broad left-centrist front to challenge the rise of the right.
The populist MoVimento 5 Stelle (M5S), led by Giuseppe Conte, surprised many by grabbing about 15 per cent of the vote, making it the third biggest party.
However there was a poor result for the newly formed Impegno Civico (IC) whose members split from the M5S in June: the party obtained less than one per cent of the vote and its leader, foreign minister Luigi Di Maio, failed to get re-elected to parliament.
Conte, who triggered a crisis that led to the fall of Draghi’s government in July, said the M5S would fight to retain the contentious welfare policy known as the reddito di cittadinanza, or citizen’s income, a scheme the right has vowed to scrap.
The centrist terzo polo or third pole, comprising Carlo Calenda’s Azione and Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva, got less than eight per cent.
The general election on Sunday was hampered by bad weather and voter apathy, with a record low turnout of just 64 per cent, down from 74 per cent in 2018, Reuters reports.
Lastly, President Sergio Mattarella will have the last word on who becomes Italy’s next prime minister, with Meloni widely expected to lead the 68th Italian government since world war two.
