The parliamentary elections in Italy are the most pressing topic in the press. The shift to the right in the neighboring country with the victory of the right-wing alliance made up of three parties under Giorgia Meloni (45) is causing a major uproar in European politics.
“Meloni’s success is a non-political, even anti-political success. This can also be seen in the fact that she was unable to stop the trend of abstention with her promises of salvation: only just under two-thirds of the voters went to the polls, ten percent less than four years ago.
As energetic and optimistic as Chairwoman Meloni is, the dissatisfied, the frustrated and tired of politics are gathering behind her. Meloni serves their weariness with patriotic slogans, with the stale dream of Italy’s return to supposedly old greatness and homeliness at the same time. With the demand that the splendor of Made in Italy must shine across the country, from the schools to the last factory. And with the completely contradictory idea that Italy can best exist as a nation in the European Union if the country remains completely sovereign.”
“Italy, one of the founding members of the EU, will almost certainly be governed by a party born in the wake of Mussolini’s fascism brazenly flaunting bellicose national populism.
Meloni’s election campaign has focused on defending the traditional family and excluding other models, has announced cuts in welfare for the most vulnerable, very restrictive anti-immigration policies and the rollback of social gains for women, particularly abortion rights. The left’s inability to forge alliances has doomed the country to the return of Berlusconi and Salvini to government under the command of the rising Meloni. Italy openly leans to the extreme right, but Europe must tighten controls against those seeking to destabilize the EU itself.
“The fact that voter turnout was so dramatically low, especially in the South, shows that those who need good politics the most are no longer expecting it to improve. It’s a sign of desperation. The crisis of Western democracy and its promises of representation , the government of the people by the people, reached a new, dramatic point this Sunday in Italy.”
“After a short and aggressive election campaign, two deep rifts split society. First of all, there is extreme polarization between the right and left camps. Instead of even beginning to discuss content, both sides constantly made sharp accusations. Dialogue, the search for compromises , following a common stance is now becoming difficult – although that would be necessary in view of the energy crisis, an impending recession and Putin’s threats.
A perhaps even greater gulf is opening up between politics and the non-political part of society. Since Sunday, Italy’s largest party has been that of non-voters. Many of them, it can be assumed, stayed away from the polls out of resignation to the parties and their meaningless show election campaign.”
“Giorgia Meloni will probably be Italy’s new prime minister. But as usual in Italy, the question arises: For how long? A record low voter turnout and a clear geographical imbalance between north and south give Meloni’s winning team weak legitimacy. Because she, Giorgia Meloni, has Coalition comrades Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi are two of the biggest losers.”
“Meloni was too reluctant to completely distance herself from her party’s (Fratelli d’Italia) fascist legacy. But it’s also not clear how much politics would change under her leadership. (…) Meloni was Comparatively little known when she went into this election and her party has never been in power.She is on course to win, in part because she failed to join the grand coalition government led by then-Prime Minister Mario Draghi.A victory Melonis will usher in a complex new phase in Italian politics and in Italy’s relations with the European Union, but that’s the case in every Italian election these days, and the point is that the Italians may end up getting the conservative government they want four years ago they seemed to want to. Now they’re going to find out if it works.”
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