Italy[/B] is in the throes of a political crisis, following the resignation of Mario Draghi, the dissolution of parliament and the call for elections on 25 September. And if we take into account what the polls are saying, it is likely that the first party in the election (polls are giving figures of around 22%) will be the far-right "Brothers of Italy", led by Giorgia Meloni who is likely to become prime minister if the broader right and centre-right has a majority. Moreover, several argue that it may have been the 5 Star Movement, whose electoral base was not particularly comfortable with Draghi as prime minister, that started the sequence that led to the former ECB chief's resignation as prime minister, but the manipulation that made the resignation inevitable ultimately came from the manipulations mainly orchestrated by Berlusconi, culminating in his walking out of the chamber to avoid having to vote in favour of the confidence motion that had been tabled.
But in all of this it seems that the big winner is that political formation of the far right that was left out of the Draghi government: The Brothers of Italy, who in the polls seem to be the leading party, with the centrist Democratic Party in second place. If we take into account overall the polls give the broad right over the centre-left, this makes the possibility of a coalition government including the
Brothers of Italy and Meloni possible.
Meloni's neo-fascist past
Like other leading figures of the far-right in Europe, Meloni is diligently trying to show that she is not a classic figure of the far-right, but a modern conservative politician who accepts the rules of the parliamentary game, Europeanism and Atlanticism.
Only this does not negate the fact that, as she describes in the book published in 2021, entitled Io sono Giorgia, about her views and political path, she first entered politics at 15, in 1992, going to enrol in the 'Youth Front' (Fronte della Gioventú), the youth of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), which after the Second World War was the neo-fascist political expression of Mussolini's nostalgics.
She gradually rose within the political forms that succeeded the MSI, such as the National Alliance , of Gianfranco Fini, was elected head of the youth of the National Alliance and at the age of 29 in 2006 was elected for the first time as a member of parliament.
When in 2008 Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Fini's National Alliance merged to form the "People of Liberty" (Popolo della Libertá), and won the elections, Meloni became at 31 the youngest minister in the Italian government, taking over the Ministry for Youth, and in 2009 she became president of the party's youth party.
In 2012 after a clash with Berlusconi over the primaries, Meloni left the "People of Freedom" and along with other members founded the "Brothers of Italy" (the name comes from the first verse of the Italian national anthem), but remained in the right-wing coalition and was re-elected as a member of parliament in 2013. She was re-elected again in 2018, with her party getting about 4%. She maintained a tolerant attitude towards the first Conte government, supported by the 5 Star Movement and Salvini's League, was opposed to the second Conte government as well as to the Draghi government, with the "Brothers of Italy" appearing as the main right-wing opposition force.
Normalization of the far right a la Italian
Meloni's path illustrates an element we have seen elsewhere in Europe, but in Italy it may have started earlier, amid the tectonic changes in political parties in the early 1990s and the emergence of Berlusconi as the key leading figure of the right: The removal of clear dividing lines between the far-right and the centre-right and the attempt of the far-right to become part of the political mainstream.
The interesting thing about Meloni is that having first followed this path, she then chose first to split to the right and from this starting point to try - and to some extent succeed - in gaining hegemony on the broader right. After all, the hegemony of far-right logics had already been demonstrated in the way that it was Salvini's Lega that emerged as the main right-wing formation in the 2018 elections.
Meloni herself is always careful to underline that her positions are pro-European, Atlanticist and pro-American, with a clear pro-EU and pro-NATO position, but also anti-Russia and anti-China, and business-friendly, while avoiding idealising fascism, stressing that it comes from a generation after the conflicts between fascists and anti-fascists, although there will be revelations about the collaboration of the Sisters of Italy with openly neo-fascist circles and questions of illegal forms of financing.
Of course, at the same time he has taken particularly tough positions on immigration issues, arguing that mass immigration is destroying culture, and has taken a stand against same-sex marriage and same-sex couples having children. He disapproves of the violent practices of other smaller openly neo-fascist groups, but at the same time has no problem siding with the hard-right VOX in Spain. Nor is it a coincidence that Meloni has said she considers Victor Orban a role model.
Meloni herself has invested heavily in her image, trying to show that she can be a candidate "close to the people" and far from the elites, with frequent references to pop culture and a reminder that she started out working as a babysitter and in bars in Rome. Of course, at the same time she is still a politician who has spent most of her adult life in political positions and in the corridors of power.
The crisis of the "Italian model"
All this emerges at a time of an overall crisis not only of governance but of an economic and social model in general. The Italian economy is being tested at the moment with the debt issue and all the problems associated with the widening of spreads with German bonds, creating concern not only for the Italian economy but also for the stability of the euro. At the same time the Italian political system, which combines fragmentation with 'flexibility' and the Italian tradition of 'metamorphosis' (which wants parties to end up playing a different role from the one that was supposed to be assigned to their programme and representation) has shown in previous years a difficulty in producing coherent governance solutions, the latest example being the failure of the government around Mario Draghi. Ahead of the September elections, it remains to be seen whether the assessments of a rightward shift will be confirmed, which will undoubtedly have an impact throughout Europe.
Source.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
