Italian President Sergio Mattarella yesterday accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, opening the door to calling early elections for September 25. After the 2018 elections left a divided Chamber of Deputies leading to the formation of a government of national unity in February 2021, polls are currently pointing to a victory and a majority for the center right in the next round of voting – with Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy, who has tried to distance herself from her neo-fascist origins, to become the first woman to head Italy’s government.
The political crisis of recent weeks was caused by the withdrawal of support from the 5 Star Movement (M5E) to the government, with Draghi’s first resignation being contested by Mattarella. But the prime minister failed to rebuild his large majority in parliament and also lost support from Matteo Salvini’s League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. Mattarella then had to accept Draghi’s resignation. In a statement to the country, the president explained that “the lack of parliamentary support for the government and the lack of prospects of creating a new majority” made the “early dissolution” of parliament inevitable. The Prime Minister will remain in office until a successor is elected.
In his speech, Mattarella recalled the difficult moment caused by the economic and social crisis – with the rise in inflation caused by the rise in energy prices – to which are added the war in Ukraine and the pandemic. “For these reasons, I hope that, despite the intense and sometimes sharp dialectic of the election campaign, everyone will make a constructive contribution in the interest of Italy.” Elections were only scheduled for next year, but for months there had been tensions within the government, with parties from opposing camps seeking to take a stand for voters.
Meloni leads polls
After the change of the electoral law, the Italian Chamber of Deputies goes from the current 630 to 400 seats, and the scenarios based on the latest polls point not only to victory, but also to a majority of the center right – the alliance between the Brothers of Italy , the League and Force Italia. Together they manage to elect up to 221 deputies and 108 out of 200 senators. At 45, Meloni is on track to become the first woman to lead the Italian government – if she can put aside her personal and political differences with her allies.
Roman Meloni fought since the age of 15 in the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (heir to Benito Mussolini’s party), which later gave way to the National Alliance. A deputy since 2006, two years later she became the country’s youngest minister and took over the youth portfolio under Berlusconi’s government. The Alliance would eventually join Force Italia, creating the People of Liberty, but internal disagreements resulted in this party’s split, with Meloni founding the Irmãos de Itália in late 2012.
From the outset, the party rejected the far-right stamp and defined itself as belonging to the “extremely strict” conservative right, critical of immigration and the Islamization of society.. In the 2018 elections, the Brothers of Italy had 4.4% of the vote, with 32 deputies elected. Now they are emerging as favorites in the polls, with 23% of the voting intentions, after refusing to give the green light to Draghi’s national unity government in February 2021. “We are ready,” they tweeted yesterday about the elections they had been defending for months.
The Democratic Party (center-left), led by Enrico Letta, seems close behind, with 22% of the voting intentions, ahead of the League, which has 15%, and the M5E, led by Giuseppe Conte, which has 11%. The polls still do not take into account the rift between the latter caused by the departure of the head of diplomacy, Luigi di Maio, who formed Juntos pelo Futuro. Forza Italia has 8% of the voting intentions.
Obstacles
Although the reports seem in favor of Meloni, the leader of the Brothers of Italy has several obstacles ahead of him, starting with gaining the trust of the allies – despite the fact that the three sides have already agreed to work together in a centre-right alliance that favors them versus a divided centre-left. Analysts believe that both Salvini and Berlusconi could oppose handing over the head of government to Meloni, claiming he lacks qualifications and fearing his party could gain even more power.
There are also political differences. Meloni has always been Eurosceptic, but not as much as Salvini, and the European Union has a better reputation today than it did a few years ago – Italy will receive billions of European euros for its post-covid-19 resilience programme. As for the war in Ukraine, Meloni supported the Draghi government’s determined stance against Russia, even more than Forza Italia itself or the League, which were part of the ruling coalition. We must not forget that Berlusconi has always had personal ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Salvini was also an admirer.
susana.f.salvador@dn.pt
Source: El heraldo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
