While Giorgia Meloni was answering questions from journalists gathered in the parliamentary group room of the Chamber of Deputies, many people looked at each other, smiled and consulted about how consistent the answers were with the facts. The very strict format of the end-of-year press conference, which became the beginning of the year due to the Prime Minister’s health problems, allowed him to bypass obstacles with omissions and half-truths, and at the same time to say once again: a lot of lies.

A rude awakening from slogans to facts

It is known that politicians do not stand out with their sincerity and often big bluffs are hidden behind them, especially those who manage to attract the weakest segments of society to their side. Most Italians already knew that many of Giorgia Meloni’s promises over the years were more misleading advertisements than the famous Christmas dessert sponsored by the well-known influencer. Presumably, many of his most ardent supporters also knew this in their hearts, and it is no coincidence that even today they continue to sing his praises more out of honor for their political support in virtual stadiums than out of actual belief. The leader of the Brotherhood of Italy, who shouts at everyone from the opposition benches, looks much calmer and almost always tired in his new institutional role. And when we think of those shouted speeches, that famous “I am a woman, I am a mother etc…” praised in many languages, it is almost touching to see her rushing to the toilet after a three-hour press conference or to hear her moaning “in the air” in uncomfortable shoes.

Slightly less poignant is the prime minister’s attempt to portray a parallel reality at odds with modern-day Italy. For example, faced with the exponential increase in removals approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding immigration, Meloni was forced to admit the failure of the policies implemented. In almost Christian Democrat rhetoric, he repeatedly announced the elusive “Mattei plan” without revealing half of the executive project. To cap it off, he said what any Mario Draghi could have said, namely that any results would be seen by the end of his term. Maybe it would be enough for him to finally tell the truth: Immigration is not the most serious problem affecting the country; It wasn’t yesterday that he and his main ally flooded social media with content against immigrants and ministers. They did not stop the landings and they are not stopping today when those landings increased by 50 percent. It is something that must be managed rationally. And he has now proven to be far less good than his predecessors.

A growth that doesn’t exist

Another creative story is about economics. Giorgia Meloni claims that Italy’s projected growth will be above the European average. If the math isn’t an opinion, the estimated European average is 1.3 percent, while the Italian average is 0.9 percent, according to the European Commission. And one hopes that those whom Meloni once described as “charlatan bureaucrats” are right, because according to Istat the country’s growth will be only 0.7 percent.

The Prime Minister said that he did not increase taxes, but cut public expenditures to finance the measures in the budget. This is not the case: most interventions are financed by a $16 billion deficit; This is another debt that will weigh on the Italians; Only 1.4 billion will come from cuts to ministries, regions and municipalities, and this is not necessarily a good thing because these cuts could mean fewer services for citizens. An “accounting game” that will no longer be possible to play as of next year due to the new stability agreement imposed by France and Germany that will prevent Italy from taking on new debt; An agreement that the Meloni government accepted without even touching the ball. As for taxes, the Prime Minister, in addition to approving the already foreseen tax cut for some income groups, “forgot” to mention the increase in VAT on basic needs for “traditional families” such as nappies, sanitary pads and baby products. It also missed out on other taxes scattered here and there, such as a flat-rate tax on short-term rentals that rose from 21 percent to 26 percent for second homes, an increase in excise duties on gasoline and tobacco, and VAT on gas and invoices.

The first government… but that’s not true

The Prime Minister told another lie, like a lump of coal in Befana’s stockpile, when he talked about President Mattarella’s call for the extension of concessions for street vendors and beach resorts. It’s something Meloni really excels at; She asserts with some conviction that her government was the first “to map our coasts to verify whether the principle of scarcity of good exists, a necessary condition for its application.” European directive”. In reality, mapping has existed since 1993 and is carried out by the Ministry of Infrastructure. What his government did was to have the EU Commission reject a draft map in which reefs, ports, airports and industrial areas were included in the scope of maritime ownership. In practice, we went to Europe and coastal allocation We said that there was no need to hold a tender for a tender, that anyone who wanted could request to open a beach resort among the shipyards of a port or on a rock.And no, it is not even true that his government was the first to impose a tax on banks: the much-ballyhooed tax on excess profits was actually withdrawn; He was allowed to keep the money in cash, and as a result, no bank paid even a single euro to the state.

Lies about Tele Meloni and the prime minister’s office

It is impossible not to mention what the Prime Minister said about Rai. In this case, victimhood, another strong point of Giorgia Meloni’s institutional version, comes to the fore. The Prime Minister threw out the numbers randomly: “The left, which received 18 percent of the votes in the past, accounted for 70 percent of the positions in Rai. We are doing a rebalancing job.” It may be true that Mr. Gino at the sports bar or Farfallina78 on the social network said some things to you; But it is truly astonishing for a Prime Minister to say this. Perhaps Giorgia Meloni may have forgotten the famous “Bulgarian edict” of the then former leader Silvio Berlusconi, under which professionals unwelcome on the right were expelled from state television. Perhaps he may have forgotten that a number of figures openly close to the centre-right, such as Bruno Vespa, have never (rightfully…) questioned the history of the company. Maybe he forgot that he supports the presidency of a man named Marcello Foa, who is sadly known for embracing conspiracy theories and spreading fake news. In short, the right has always been present in Rai and has always given cards, now it has completely monopolized it.

Putting pressure on the Prime Ministry issue, the Prime Minister said that he would not touch the powers of the President. In this case the lie is particularly evident, because the direct election of the prime minister already means the abolition of the powers of the President; The President will no longer be able to appoint the Prime Minister and if the government will have to do so. In the autumn, appoint a member with the same political views as the previous one. It also envisions the lifetime impeachment of senators, another prerogative of the President that will no longer exist.

It’s hard to say how much Giorgia Meloni can maintain the current consensus by continuing to talk about an Italy that doesn’t exist and omitting important parts of reality. His predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, was long successful and remained the central figure of Italian politics even when millions of Italians who believed in him found themselves on the brink of poverty. It was his bad habits rather than the dramatic consequences of his political action that betrayed him. The current prime minister’s Achilles heel may be his extravagant travel companions, those who bring out guns at New Year’s parties or invent on-demand stops on Frecciarossa trains.