'Woman, mother, Christian' guides Italian far-right to brink of power
Gaël BRANCHEREAU
Wed, August 10, 2022
Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy, has sought to detoxify the country's post-fascist movement and in doing so has brought it to within touching distance of power.
With her party topping opinion polls and Meloni herself enjoying the highest ratings of any party chief, she has put herself forward as prime minister if Brothers of Italy finishes first in September 25 elections.
Small in stature with poker-straight blonde hair, a deep voice and forceful delivery, the 45-year-old has wooed Italians with her motto of "God, country and family".
In 2018 elections, her party won just over four percent of the vote, but is now polling around 23 percent and leading her right-wing alliance comprising Matteo Salvini's League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.
She has brought together many voters dissatisfied with the status quo, the "diktats" from the European Union, the high cost of living and the limited opportunities available for Italy's young people.
Meloni has pledged to cut taxes and bureaucracy, raise defence spending, close Italy's borders to protect the country from "Islamisation", renegotiate European treaties to return more power to Rome and fight "LGBT lobbies".
She also wants to reverse the decline in Italy's population by encouraging birthrates -- but not by allowing immigrants to naturalise, having warned in 2016 of an "ethnic replacement" underway in Italy.
"In general terms, Meloni represents a point of reference for protest, disaffection," said Sofia Ventura, professor of political science at the University of Bologna.
And with Italy's other main anti-establishment parties, the Five Star Movement and the League, having joined Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government last year, she is the only one entering elections with a clean slate.
- Fascism in history -
Meloni's party, which takes its name from the first line of the national anthem, is a political descendant of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), formed by supporters of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini after World War II.
They share the same symbol of a flame in the national colours of green, white and red -- an image also used by the former National Front in France.
But Meloni has sought to reassure the moderate voices in her movement, knowing she needs to widen her base to win power.
"The Italian right has handed fascism over to history for decades now," she said in a video message this week aimed at her international critics.
Mussolini made "several mistakes", notably the racial laws and his entry into World War II, she said in 2016, adding: "Historically he also produced a lot, but that does not save him."
Within Brothers of Italy, she clarified last year, "there is no room for nostalgic attitudes of fascism, for hypotheses of racism and anti-Semitism".
- Christian, Italian mother -
Born in Rome on January 15, 1977, Meloni grew up in the working-class neighbourhood of Garbatella and was steeped in politics from early on.
As a teenager, she joined the youth wing of the MSI, Fronte della Gioventu, and went on to be national head of Student Action, part of the far-right Alleanza Nazionale (National Alliance), which replaced the MSI.
In 2006, she was elected to the lower parliamentary house, the Chamber of Deputies, and became vice-president.
Two years later Meloni was named minister for youth in Berlusconi's government, at 31 the youngest minister in post-war Italy.
She founded Brothers of Italy in 2012 and her youth and confidence -- and the fact that she was a woman -- made her stand out.
As she grew older, and had a daughter in 2006 with her TV journalist partner, Meloni tapped her personal life to sell her national brand.
"I am Giorgia, I am a woman, I am a mother, I am Italian, I am Christian," she declared at a 2019 rally in Rome, which went viral after it was remixed into a dance music track.
Hers was the only main party to refuse to join Draghi's national unity government in February 2021, an opposition stance that has helped shoot her poll ratings skyward.
Meloni opposed Draghi's tough coronavirus measures, notably the so-called Green Pass requiring workers to be vaccinated.
Unlike Salvini and Berlusconi, who have long had ties with Moscow, she backed Draghi's strong support for Ukraine following Russia's invasion.
But she is sharply critical of the European Union, and is president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Party, which includes Spain's Vox and Poland's Law and Justice parties.
gab/ar/ams/bp
Leader of Italy’s post-fascist party says she has ‘shared values’ with British Tories
OF COURSE SHE DOES
Nick Squires
Wed, August 10, 2022
Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Brothers of Italy - AFP
The frontrunner to become Italy’s next prime minister has said she has “shared values” with the British Conservatives as she insisted her party and country has consigned facism to history.
Giorgia Meloni has been dogged by fears that among her supporters are neo-fascists, extremists and apologists for the Mussolini regime, which imprisoned political opponents, persecuted Italian Jews and dragged Italy into the Second World War as an ally of Hitler.
She has called for a “naval blockade” of Italy’s coasts to stop migrants and refugees arriving by boat from North Africa.
“The Italian Right has handed fascism over to history for decades now, unambiguously condemning the suppression of democracy and the ignominious anti-Jewish laws,” she said in a video message recorded in English, French and Spanish and sent to foreign correspondents who cover Italy.
The 45-year-old politician, an admirer of Viktor Orban in Hungary as well as the hardline Vox party in Spain, leads the Brothers of Italy party, the descendant of Italy’s post-war fascist movement.
The party has forged an alliance with the centre-Right Forza Italia, led by Silvio Berlusconi, and the hard-Right League, led by Matteo Salvini.
Matteo Salvini, the leader of the hard-right League party - Reuters
Together they are expected to win around 44 per cent of the vote when Italy holds a general election on September 25, easily beating the squabbling, fractured centre-Left.
The election had to be called after several parties withdrew their support for a broad coalition led by Mario Draghi, the prime minister.
Ms Meloni, 45, has a good chance of becoming Italy’s first female prime minister after the three parties struck a deal which says that the one that takes the most votes will get to nominate the premier.
Brothers of Italy is comfortably ahead of the other two parties, with polls suggesting it will attract around 24 per cent of the vote, while the League is on 12 per cent and Forza Italia around 8 per cent.
Sitting behind a desk, with an Italian flag at her shoulder, Ms Meloni claimed she had been unfairly portrayed as a far-Right extremist.
She described Brothers of Italy - Fratelli d’Italia in Italian - as “conservatives” who have much in common with Britain’s Tories, Republicans in the US and Likud in Israel.
“I have been reading that the victory of Fratelli d'Italia in the September elections would mean a disaster, leading to an authoritarian turn, Italy's departure from the euro and other nonsense of this sort. None of this is true.”
Described as a 'danger to democracy'
She said she had been described as “a danger to democracy, to Italian, European and international stability.”
She dismissed accusations that Brothers of Italy would “jeopardize” the spending of around 200 billion euro in post-pandemic recovery funds that Italy is due to receive in loans and grants from the EU.
Ms Meloni reiterated her support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion and said that if elected to government she would be pro-EU and pro-NATO.
“She herself is not a neo-fascist and she’s trying to do all she can to eliminate that element from her party,” said Francesco Galietti, an analyst from Policy Sonar, a political risk consultancy.
“She’s very aware that it is a liability. There are many layers to her party and clearly there is a layer of nostalgics (for Mussolini and fascism). But I’m not convinced it’s the bulk of the party.”
Meanwhile, Silvio Berlusconi announced that he hopes to be reelected to parliament in the election next month, despite approaching his 86th birthday and having a chequered history of sex scandals and financial impropriety.
He may be of an age at which most people occupy themselves with doting on their grandchildren, some light gardening and perhaps the odd cruise, but the billionaire businessman’s appetite for power is unabated, decades after he first burst onto Italy’s political scene.
The octogenarian grandfather, who has been prime minister of Italy three times, said he will stand for the Senate, the upper house of parliament. The national vote will be held just four days before he turns 86.
Silvio Berlusconi hopes to be elected to the Senate - AFP
“I think that, in the end, I will be present myself as a candidate for the Senate, so that all these people who asked me will finally be happy,” he said on Wednesday.
Mr Berlusconi’s past would have sunk the careers of politicians in many countries. A decade ago he was embroiled in the “bunga bunga” scandal, in which he was accused of cavorting with escorts and showgirls at his residences in Milan and Sardinia.
Trials relating to the scandal are still dragging on, with Mr Berlusconi accused of bribing young women to give false testimony about the nature of the gatherings.
He was expelled from parliament in 2013 after being convicted for tax fraud and was banned from participating in elections for six years.
He put himself forward to become Italy’s new president earlier this year but in the end the incumbent, Sergio Mattarella, remained in office.
Mr Berlusconi dismissed suggestions that he is worried about Ms Meloni becoming prime minister.
But he did urge Italians to vote for his party in order to make the right-wing coalition more moderate.
“Every vote for Forza Italia will strengthen the moderate, centrist profile of the coalition,” he told Il Giornale, a daily newspaper which is owned by his family.
Nick Squires
Wed, August 10, 2022
Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Brothers of Italy - AFP
The frontrunner to become Italy’s next prime minister has said she has “shared values” with the British Conservatives as she insisted her party and country has consigned facism to history.
Giorgia Meloni has been dogged by fears that among her supporters are neo-fascists, extremists and apologists for the Mussolini regime, which imprisoned political opponents, persecuted Italian Jews and dragged Italy into the Second World War as an ally of Hitler.
She has called for a “naval blockade” of Italy’s coasts to stop migrants and refugees arriving by boat from North Africa.
“The Italian Right has handed fascism over to history for decades now, unambiguously condemning the suppression of democracy and the ignominious anti-Jewish laws,” she said in a video message recorded in English, French and Spanish and sent to foreign correspondents who cover Italy.
The 45-year-old politician, an admirer of Viktor Orban in Hungary as well as the hardline Vox party in Spain, leads the Brothers of Italy party, the descendant of Italy’s post-war fascist movement.
The party has forged an alliance with the centre-Right Forza Italia, led by Silvio Berlusconi, and the hard-Right League, led by Matteo Salvini.
Matteo Salvini, the leader of the hard-right League party - Reuters
Together they are expected to win around 44 per cent of the vote when Italy holds a general election on September 25, easily beating the squabbling, fractured centre-Left.
The election had to be called after several parties withdrew their support for a broad coalition led by Mario Draghi, the prime minister.
Ms Meloni, 45, has a good chance of becoming Italy’s first female prime minister after the three parties struck a deal which says that the one that takes the most votes will get to nominate the premier.
Brothers of Italy is comfortably ahead of the other two parties, with polls suggesting it will attract around 24 per cent of the vote, while the League is on 12 per cent and Forza Italia around 8 per cent.
Sitting behind a desk, with an Italian flag at her shoulder, Ms Meloni claimed she had been unfairly portrayed as a far-Right extremist.
She described Brothers of Italy - Fratelli d’Italia in Italian - as “conservatives” who have much in common with Britain’s Tories, Republicans in the US and Likud in Israel.
“I have been reading that the victory of Fratelli d'Italia in the September elections would mean a disaster, leading to an authoritarian turn, Italy's departure from the euro and other nonsense of this sort. None of this is true.”
Described as a 'danger to democracy'
She said she had been described as “a danger to democracy, to Italian, European and international stability.”
She dismissed accusations that Brothers of Italy would “jeopardize” the spending of around 200 billion euro in post-pandemic recovery funds that Italy is due to receive in loans and grants from the EU.
Ms Meloni reiterated her support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion and said that if elected to government she would be pro-EU and pro-NATO.
“She herself is not a neo-fascist and she’s trying to do all she can to eliminate that element from her party,” said Francesco Galietti, an analyst from Policy Sonar, a political risk consultancy.
“She’s very aware that it is a liability. There are many layers to her party and clearly there is a layer of nostalgics (for Mussolini and fascism). But I’m not convinced it’s the bulk of the party.”
Meanwhile, Silvio Berlusconi announced that he hopes to be reelected to parliament in the election next month, despite approaching his 86th birthday and having a chequered history of sex scandals and financial impropriety.
He may be of an age at which most people occupy themselves with doting on their grandchildren, some light gardening and perhaps the odd cruise, but the billionaire businessman’s appetite for power is unabated, decades after he first burst onto Italy’s political scene.
The octogenarian grandfather, who has been prime minister of Italy three times, said he will stand for the Senate, the upper house of parliament. The national vote will be held just four days before he turns 86.
Silvio Berlusconi hopes to be elected to the Senate - AFP
“I think that, in the end, I will be present myself as a candidate for the Senate, so that all these people who asked me will finally be happy,” he said on Wednesday.
Mr Berlusconi’s past would have sunk the careers of politicians in many countries. A decade ago he was embroiled in the “bunga bunga” scandal, in which he was accused of cavorting with escorts and showgirls at his residences in Milan and Sardinia.
Trials relating to the scandal are still dragging on, with Mr Berlusconi accused of bribing young women to give false testimony about the nature of the gatherings.
He was expelled from parliament in 2013 after being convicted for tax fraud and was banned from participating in elections for six years.
He put himself forward to become Italy’s new president earlier this year but in the end the incumbent, Sergio Mattarella, remained in office.
Mr Berlusconi dismissed suggestions that he is worried about Ms Meloni becoming prime minister.
But he did urge Italians to vote for his party in order to make the right-wing coalition more moderate.
“Every vote for Forza Italia will strengthen the moderate, centrist profile of the coalition,” he told Il Giornale, a daily newspaper which is owned by his family.
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