Giorgia Meloni, a far-right leader, clenched victory in Italy’s general election. She is expected to become Italy’s Prime Minister after president Sergio Mattarella gives her mandate to form the government.
Confident after the voting process completed, she said that her Brothers of Italy party would “govern for everyone” and would not betray people’s trust. The results led victory to the coalition of Meloni’s party and Matteo Salvini’s far-right League.
Giorgia Meloni to lead Italy’s far-right government
The coalition, led by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy would be Italy’s first far-right-led government and the most right-wing government since the Second World War. It also contains Matteo Salvini’s far-right League and former PM Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia.
The coalition won a majority with 44% of the vote in both the parliament houses. Brothers of Italy swept victory in the League’s northern strongholds of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Brothers of Italy won 26.0% followed by Salvini’s Lega that takeover 8.7% within the alliance. This reflected the percentage of votes indicated by preliminary results. According to the pre-election agreement among the centre-right coalition parties, Giorgia Meloni was chosen as the prime minister candidate.
An Early Election
Giorgia Meloni’s closest rival Enrico Letta, part of the centre left coalition. After the results, Letta told journalists on Monday that the far-right victory was a “sad day for Italy and Europe” while his party would provide a “strong and intransigent opposition”.
Italy recorded the lowest voter turnout at 63.9% in the republican history which is nearly 9 percentage less than in the 2018 election. The 2022 Italy’s general election was called prior to the regular schedule. The Italian Parliament was dissolved on July 21, eight months before its natural expiration. The new elections were called as a result of the 2022 Italian government crisis that caused Prime Minister Mario Draghi to resign.
Giorgia Meloni has been a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies since 2006. Since 2014, she has served as party leader for the Brothers of Italy (FdI), and since 2020, she has presided over the European Conservatives and Reformists Party.
