RIGHT-WING ALLIANCE SET FOR ELECTION VICTORY IN ITALY: PROJECTION

Mon 26 September 2022:

Rome, Italy – The far-right Brothers of Italy party has won the most parliamentary seats in the country’s elections, a projection suggested, paving the way for the party’s leader Giorgia Meloni to become the country’s first female prime minister.

The forecast by SWG on private channel La 7, which came out after voting ended on Sunday, said that Meloni’s party is likely going to win 26 percent of the vote.

Its coalition partners, hardliner Matteo Salvini’s League party and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forward Italy, are expected to win 8.7 percent and 8.2 percent respectively – enough to guarantee a parliamentary majority for the alliance.

The Democratic Party, which failed to form a broad alliance with other left-leaning and centrist parties reducing its chances to govern, is predicted to win 18.3 percent of the vote, pollsters said.

The Five Star Movement, long considered a moribund party, seems to have done better than expected, getting 16.6 percent of the vote.

The centrist Third Pole, composed of Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva and Carlo Calenda’s Azione, was at 7.8 percent.

If the projection is confirmed, Meloni would be on course to become the country’s first far-right leader since World War II. During her election campaign, she pledged to reduce taxes, impose a naval block to stop “illegal immigration”, and to put Italians’ interest first within the European Union. But she is going to face the task of guiding Italy through a harsh winter amid an energy crisis and surging inflation.

Although the forecast suggests about one every four Italians voted for Meloni, the party’s alliance seems not on track to win 70 percent of the seats – which would have allowed it to pass constitutional reforms without holding referendums. The alliance wants to adopt the direct election of the president, who is currently appointed by parliament.

While there were few doubts over the far-right leader’s victory, the projections also brought surprises.

“We see a much stronger Five Star Movement as they have really embraced and supported the ‘citizens income’ [a poverty relief scheme] and branded themselves as a party of welfare’s support and redistribution,” said Andrea Ruggeri, professor of political science and international relations at Oxford University.

Five Star Movement’s leader Giuseppe Conte spent considerable time touring southern provinces, which are home to most of the relief package’s recipients.