Polling stations opened at 9 a.m. (French time) this Sunday in Italy. Nearly 51 million voters are called to the polls until 11 p.m. to renew the two chambers of parliament and form a new government. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the turnout at midday was more than 19% at 12 p.m., which is comparable to the attendance recorded during the 2018 legislative elections. Many queues formed outside polling stations in various parts of the country.
At 45, Giorgia Meloni is the favorite to lead a coalition government in which the far right would largely dominate the classical right. She leads the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party which is credited with nearly a quarter of the vote in the latest polls. It is an earthquake on the scale of Italy, founding country of the European Community and third economy of the euro zone, but also of the European Union, which should deal with this ideologue close to the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban .
“I play to win, not to participate”, said while going to vote Matteo Salvini, leader of the Anti-immigrant League. He sees his party “on the podium: first, second, at worst third” after the ballot. “I look forward to returning from tomorrow to the government of this extraordinary country.” Matteo Salvini was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior in Giuseppe Conte’s first government (2018-2019).
Mass is not said
During her campaign, Giorgia Meloni warned: “In Europe, they are all worried to see Meloni in government […] The party is over, Italy will start defending its national interests.”. This ex-fan of Mussolini, whose motto is “God, fatherland, family”, succeeded in demonizing her party and catalyzing on her behalf the discontent and frustrations of her compatriots by resolutely opposing the government of national unity. by Mario Draghi.
But mass is not said according to Emiliana De Blasio, professor of sociology at Luiss University in Rome: “Unpredictable, elections are played on emotion and at the last moment”. She also reminds the key role of the undecidedestimated at around 20%.
The scores of the 5 Star Movement (M5S, ex-antisystem), credited with having instituted a minimum income for the poorest, and the Democratic Party (PD, center-left), well established locally, could reserve surprisesespecially in the south of the country.
The future government will have to manage the economic crisis
At the end of these legislative elections, the future government will have to manage the crisis caused by soaring prices, while Italy is crumbling under a debt representing 150% of GDP, the highest ratio in the euro zone behind Greece . In this context, the windfall of the European post-pandemic recovery plan, of which Italy is by far the first beneficiary, will be essential to keep the peninsula afloat.
historian Marc Lazar explains to AFP that “Italy cannot afford to deprive itself of these sums of money”. According to him, Meloni’s room for maneuver on the economy will therefore be very limited. On the other hand, it could scrap against Brussels alongside Warsaw and Budapest “on questions of defense of the national interest in relation to European interests”. Giorgia Meloni is also calling for a “revision of the rules of the Stability Pact”, suspended due to the health crisis, which set a ceiling of 3% of GDP for the deficit and 60% for the debt.
On social issues, Giorgia Meloni appears ultra-conservative : “Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby! Yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology! Yes to the culture of life, no to the abyss of death!” proclaimed in June the one who also promises to fight “against the Islamization of Europe”.
Humanitarian NGOs fear that his coming to power will also result in a padlocking of the countrywhere tens of thousands of migrants land every year
In a country where government instability is legendary, experts already agree on the short life expectancy of this coalition where Giordia Meloni will have a lot to do to manage his cumbersome allies, whether the indestructible Silvio Berlusconi or Matteo Salvini .
With AFP