Atlantic Sentinel

Tag: Italian Election 2022

Parliamentary elections were held in Italy on September 25. Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy placed first with 26 percent support. The right-wing coalition as a whole, including Matteo Salvini’s League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, won 237 out of 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 115 out of 200 seats in the Senate with 44 percent support. The center-left Democratic Party won 19 percent, the populist-left Five Star Movement 15 percent, and the liberal alliance of Action and Italia Viva 8 percent.

  • How the Left Lost the Italian Election

    Enrico Letta
    Italian Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta meets with other European socialists in Brussels, June 23 (PES)

    The votes have been counted in 61,400 polling stations and they confirm what the exit poll told us on Sunday night: Italy has lurched to the right.

    But not by much.

    The four right-parties have 44 percent of the votes. That’s up from 37 percent in 2018, but closer to their historical average.

    The right has become more right-wing. The Brothers of Italy, whose support went up from 4 to 26 percent, didn’t win many new voters; they cannibalized Matteo Salvini’s (formerly Northern) League, which has been reduced to a party of Po Valley homeowners and businessmen who despise the Italy south of the Arno River. Giorgia Meloni would lead Italy’s first right-wing government since Silvio Berlusconi stepped down in 2011, and the most right-wing government since the end of World War II.

    The south, including Sardinia and Sicily, has about a third of the Italian population but not even one-fifth of its industrial base. It stuck with the Five Star Movement, the party of the left-behind Italy.

    Ideologically and geographically, the social democrats are fighting a war on two fronts from their strongholds in Emilia-Romagna (the region around Bologna) and Tuscany (Florence). They did reasonably well in neighboring Liguria, Marche and Umbria, but there was a time when the left could count on working-class support from the south of the peninsula.

    The defection of former party leader Matteo Renzi, and his union with the once-marginal liberals, which got 8 percent, also weakened the Democrats from within. (more…)

  • Right-Wing Parties Win Italian Election. Turnout Lowest in 100 Years

    • Right-wing parties won the election in Italy on Sunday.
    • Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the largest right-wing party, Brothers of Italy, would become the country’s first woman prime minister.
    • She would lead the first right-wing government since Silvio Berlusconi stepped down in 2011, and the most right-wing government since the end of World War II.
    • The elections were called when Prime Minister Mario Draghi lost the confidence of parliament in July. He did not run for reelection.
    • All 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 200 elected seats in the Senate were contested.
    • Turnout, at 64 percent, was the lowest since Benito Mussolini rigged the election of 1924. (more…)

  • Italian Election Guide

    Italian parliament Rome
    Palazzo Montecitorio, seat of the Italian parliament, in Rome (Shutterstock)

    Italians vote in early elections on September 25. All 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 200 elected seats in the Senate will be contested.

    The elections were called after Prime Minister Mario Draghi lost the confidence of the populist and right-wing parties in his coalition. Polls predict a victory for the right.

    Here is everything you need to know. (more…)

  • What to Expect of Italy’s Next Government

    Giorgia Meloni
    Brothers of Italy party leader Giorgia Meloni speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, February 26, 2022 (Vox España)

    Italy’s next coalition government will likely consist of three right-wing parties: the Brothers of Italy, League and Forza Italia (Forward Italy) are polling at close to 50 percent support, which should be enough to give them control of both chambers of parliament.

    For the first time, the Brothers of Italy, who split from Forza in 2012, would place first and provide the prime minister: Giorgia Meloni.

    The (formerly Northern) League, led by Matteo Salvini, won the election in 2018, but conservatives were disappointed when it formed a government with the left-populist Five Star Movement, and even more disappointed when Salvini left the government in a failed bid to force snap elections.

    Forza has been in third place since their leader, Silvio Berlusconi, lost reelection in 2013.

    The parties have released a joint manifesto for the election in September that is light on detail but nevertheless provides the best clues about what a right-wing government might do. Here are the main points. (more…)

  • Mario Draghi’s Downfall, Explained

    Mario Draghi
    European Central Bank president Mario Draghi speaks with European lawmakers in Brussels, September 23, 2019 (European Parliament/Dominique Hommel)

    Mario Draghi is on his way out.

    The former European Central Bank chief, prime minister of Italy for eighteen months, failed on Thursday to keep his coalition together. The populist-left Five Star Movement and right-wing League and Forza Italia boycotted a confidence vote in parliament.

    Draghi’s resignation could trigger an early election in the autumn, which would push passage of the 2023 budget, including measures to help businesses and families cope with inflation, to next year.

    It also puts a six-year, €221-billion investment and reform program at risk that’s funded by the EU. (I analyzed the plan here.) Right-wing opponents are polling in first place. (more…)