The right-wing coalition should be the most voted in parliamentary elections in Italy this Sunday (25), indicate exit polls released after the end of voting, at 23:00 (18:00 GMT).
According to Consorzio Opinio Italia for the RAI channel, the slate of the Brothers of Italy, by Giorgia Meloni, Liga, by Matteo Salvini, and Força, Italia, by Silvio Berlusconi, should gather between 41% and 45% of the votes.
If the poll is confirmed, the Brothers of Italy, with between 22.5% and 26.5%, will indicate the name of the prime minister, according to a pact between the leaders. Thus, Meloni, 45, will become Italy’s first head of government and the first far-right politician in power since dictator Benito Mussolini, in office between 1922 and 1943.
In second place, the center-left ticket, led by the Democratic Party, appears with between 25.5% and 29.50%, followed by MS5, with between 13.5% and 17.5%.
By the partial data, the abstention rate at 7 pm was 48.8%, higher compared to the same time of the 2018 election (41%). Four years ago, total abstention was 27%, the highest in history. This Sunday, attendance was lower in some regions of the south of the country, affected by strong storms.
Just before 10am, Salvini was one of the first leaders to vote in Milan. Also in the capital of Lombardy, Berlusconi registered his vote, along with his girlfriend. Meloni, on the other hand, postponed his trip to the polls, so that the large number of photographers in his section in Rome would not disturb other voters.
The 50.8 million Italian voters, including the 4.7 million outside the country, will define the 400 deputies of the Chamber and the 200 occupants of the Senate. In the mixed system, majority and proportional, one third of the seats is occupied by the most voted, and the rest, by proportional distribution.
The formation of the next government, with the confirmation of the future prime minister, could take weeks or months – in 2018, it took almost 90 days. Before President Sergio Mattarella begins the process of consultations with the parties, it is necessary for those elected to take office and for the presidents of the Houses to be chosen, as well as the parliamentary groups. Optimistic forecasts speak of at least 25 days.
Scheduled for the first half of 2023, the elections were brought forward due to the fall of Mario Draghi, who lost the support of three parties in his base –MS5, League and Force, Italy– and resigned in July.
Born in Rome, in the popular neighborhood of Garbatella, Meloni, 45, entered politics at the age of 15, when Italy was experiencing the most troubled months of Operation Clean Hands, which in 1992 revealed the involvement of the political system in corruption and which had the effect of ending the traditional acronyms.
His choice was for the youth section of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), founded in 1946 by members of the last years of Mussolini’s fascist regime. For this reason, analysts identify it sometimes as post-fascist, a term used to define the movement derived from fascism and which sought dialogue with moderate conservative right forces, sometimes as neo-fascist, in which the period continues as an inspiring ideology.
“It’s an ongoing debate, with the majority leaning towards post-fascism,” says political analyst Valerio Alfonso Bruno, a member of the UK’s Center for the Analysis of the Radical Right.
After years as a militant of the student movement, in which she perfected the rhetoric of clear and forceful words in her speeches, Meloni was elected, at 29, a federal deputy for the National Alliance party, formed by members of the MSI. Soon, she assumed one of the vice-presidencies of the Chamber.
Two years later, she became the youngest minister in the country, taking over the youth portfolio under the fourth Silvio Berlusconi government (2008-2011). At the time, her party merged with the then prime minister’s Força, Italia, under the name People of Liberty. In 2012, motivated by Berlusconi’s decline, she created her own association. With around 130,000 members, the Brothers of Italy obtained only 4.3% of the votes in 2018.
Its program is nationalist, which can generate conflicts with the European Union, and includes proposals such as a naval blockade to contain immigration. It is against the Islamization of Europe and adoption by homosexuals.
Despite declaring that he has no intention of changing the 1978 law that decriminalizes abortion, he says he wants to emphasize prevention, which can result in obstacles in women’s access to the procedure.
Her agenda is considered distant from the feminist movement, and during the campaign she saw a “She, no” movement emerge among Italian celebrities. One of her slogans is “God, Fatherland and Family”.
Internationally, his party is close to the leaders of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, and of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, and the Spanish party Vox, all of the conservative extreme right. Regarding the Ukrainian War, he defends the Draghi line, condemning Russian action and supporting the sending of weapons to Kiev.
If he wins, Meloni will lead a founding country of the European Union, the third largest economy in the bloc and a member of the G7, but in a scenario of war, energy crisis and inflation.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
