Giorgia Meloni may become Italy’s first far-right leader since World War II: NPR

ROME — If polls are correct, Italians will elect on Sunday their country’s most right-wing government since the end of World War II. not.

Giorgia Meloni, leader of Italy’s friar party Fratelli d’Italia, heads the coalition that looks likely to secure a majority of seats in the Italian parliament.

If her coalition wins, she will also make history by becoming Italy’s first female prime minister.

Meloni, 45, grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Rome. The region is better known for fostering left-wing activists than producing fierce right-wing politicians. Her party has roots in the neo-fascist movement that emerged from the ruins of World War II.

Symbols also show the connection between the party and its past. The party flag contains the tricolor flame that was the symbol of fascism in the early 20th century. Meloni has refused to remove the flames from the party’s logo.

And many party members have shown an affinity for fascism and past fascist leaders. Just this week, the party suspended its member running for parliament after an Italian newspaper revealed he had posted comments in the past that supported Adolf Hitler.

Meloni has spent considerable time and energy trying to convince Italians and Europeans that the party is not fascist. When she’s not appearing on radio or television, she creates live streaming videos on the go and posts them on all her social media platforms.

Meloni’s Twitter feed is full of scenes that look almost identical. It all shows how she takes to the stage in different Italian cities to the roaring cheers of Brothers of Italy flag-bearing supporters.

Meloni’s opposition to immigration galvanized her and her base

Meloni, August posted a video On social media, she said she would patrol the Mediterranean Sea and introduce a naval blockade to stop what she called “illegal immigrants” from North Africa.

“It’s not the policy itself that matters in the campaign, it’s the message: ‘We will stop them at all costs,'” says historian Lorenzo Castellani, professor at the LUISS University in Rome. Referring to former President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric and policies, she said, “She’s kind of a defender of the border, and she’s proposing a very Trumpian approach from this perspective.

Even though she expends her energies to rid herself of the fascist label, Meloni also provides red meat to her loyal party.At a recent event, she bellow Years of shame many felt for holding an opinion she often called “anti-wake.”

“I dream of a country where people who had to bow their heads for years can now say what they think and not lose their jobs because of it,” Meloni said. rice field.

Conservatives in moderate attire?

Some Italians fear Meloni’s government will move to outlaw abortion, which has been legal in Italy since 1978.

Meloni has long been a euroskeptic, having spoken in the past about removing Italy from the common currency, the euro, and even leaving the EU. But she has repeatedly promised that she will work with the EU and that it can be trusted to manage the €200 billion ($194 billion) Italy received in the European pandemic recovery fund.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Thursday that an anti-democratic move after elections could affect Italy, the EU’s third-largest economy. That guarantee was questioned.

Meloni has long insisted he will not settle for Russia and has backed Ukraine since civil war broke out in February. But one of her coalition partners, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has a long friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, appeared on an Italian talk show on Thursday, saying that Putin would invade Ukraine, He said he had brought “decent people” into power in Kyiv.

It’s not clear if this will hurt Meloni’s coalition prospects this late hour, but her opponent, former Prime Minister Enrico Letta, leader of Italy’s centre-left Democratic Party, has repeatedly said in the campaign trajectory. increase. Vladimir Putin will be happy first.”

astute political operative

With just 4% of the vote in the last election, Meloni has established himself as a game-changing outsider as Italians face rising energy costs, inflation and a weak economy.

Meloni’s critic, political writer Federico Fubini, says he was shrewd in getting out of the unity government that had just collapsed. I made a big opening.

“The main reason she’s leading in the polls is because it’s perceived that she hasn’t been in power in the last decade,” he says.

If Meloni’s coalition wins and she is named prime minister, she will take office almost exactly 100 years after Benito Mussolini came to power in Rome. Many Italians and Europeans want her to keep her word.