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Elections in Italy: victorious coalition of conservatives, post-fascists and the far right promises to govern for all Italians
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Sylvie Claire / September 26, 2022
We will govern for all Italians”: the leader of the Italian far right Giorgia Meloni, who wants to become Prime Minister after her victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, has tried to reassure in the face of concerns expressed in her country and abroad.
After Sweden, the far right is making a new breakthrough in Europe, where for the first time since 1945 a post-fascist party finds itself at the gates of power.
By remaining in opposition to all the governments that have succeeded each other since the 2018 legislative elections, Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) has established itself as the main alternative, rising from 4.3% to a quarter of the vote, according to initial projections, becoming the first party on the peninsula.
“Italians have sent a clear message in favour of a right-wing government led by Fratelli d’Italia,” reacted Ms. Meloni, affirming her ambition to become Prime Minister.
We will govern for all” Italians, she promised. “We will do so with the aim of uniting the people,” she added in a speech of rallying and appeasement, acknowledging that the election campaign had been “violent and aggressive.”
The coalition she is forming with the other far-right eurosceptic party, Matteo Salvini’s League, and Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative party, will win about 43% of the vote, which will give her an absolute majority of seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
The formation founded in late 2012 by Giorgia Meloni with dissidents of Berlusconism is ahead of the Democratic Party (PD, left) of Enrico Letta, which failed to generate a useful vote to block the far right and falls below the 20% mark, in a context of low turnout (64.07%, compared to 73.86% in 2018).
The vice president of the PD Debora Seracchiani recognized the “victory of the right led by Giorgia Meloni”, which marks “a sad evening for the country ».
This earthquake comes two weeks after the victory in Sweden of a conservative bloc including the Sweden Democrats (SD), a party with a neo-Nazi background that has made a strong breakthrough, becoming the Nordic country’s largest right-wing party.
In what was perceived in Rome as a warning, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recalled on Thursday that the EU has “instruments” to sanction member states that violate the rule of law and its common values.
“The Italians have offered a lesson in humility to the European Union, which, through the voice of Ms. von der Leyen, claimed to dictate their vote,” said on Twitter the president of the French National Rally Jordan Bardella.
Brussels’ bête noire, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki also sent their “congratulations” to Ms. Meloni on Sunday evening.
Mr. Orban, through his political director, Member of Parliament Balazs Orban, added this message: “We need more than ever friends who share a common vision and approach to Europe. Meloni “has shown the way to a proud and free Europe of sovereign nations,” said Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Spanish party VOX.
Fratelli d’Italia owes its success as much to the wind of “degagism” blowing across the peninsula as to the charisma of its leader.
This 45-year-old Roman woman, who as a young activist said she admired Mussolini, has succeeded in de-demonizing her image and rallying around her name the fears and anger of millions of Italians in the face of soaring prices, unemployment, the threat of recession and the negligence of public services.
The next government will have to deal with the crisis caused by galloping inflation, as Italy is already burdened with a debt of 150% of GDP, the highest ratio in the euro zone after Greece.
In this country of chronic governmental instability, experts already agree on the short life expectancy of the victorious coalition, a marriage of reason between three allies with competing ambitions.
For Ms. Meloni, “the challenge will be to transform her electoral success into government leadership that can last, that is the great unknown,” said Lorenzo De Sio, professor of political science at Luiss University in Rome, on Sunday evening.
Ms. Meloni, who has no government experience other than a brief stint at the Ministry of Youth (2008-2011), will have her work cut out for her to manage her bulky, much more experienced allies: Silvio Berlusconi has been head of government several times and Matteo Salvini, Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister.
In the Ukrainian issue, Europe and Italy’s allies, as a member of NATO, will also scrutinize the distribution of portfolios among the three parties. While Giorgia Meloni is an Atlanticist and supports the sanctions against Moscow, Mr. Salvini is opposed to them.
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Sylvie Claire / July 21, 2024
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone on Friday, with the former US president claiming to have promised the Ukrainian president to “end the war” between Ukraine and Russia should he return to the White House. “As your next president of the United States, I will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives,” said the Republican presidential candidate.
Donald Trump frequently claims that he would be able to put an end to the conflict in Ukraine very quickly on his return to power, but never provides details of how he would achieve this. Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the phone call, during which he congratulated the billionaire on his official nomination the previous day as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.
Donald Trump’s frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as his criticism of other Nato countries, is causing concern among Ukraine’s Western allies. In February, he threatened that, if he returned to the White House, he would no longer guarantee the protection of Atlantic Alliance countries against Russia if they did not pay their share, even claiming that he would “encourage” Moscow to attack them. The former American president also used his power over the Republicans to block a $61 billion military aid package for Kiev for months in Congress, which was finally adopted at the end of April.
In his posting on X on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky said he had “agreed with President Trump to discuss, in a face-to-face meeting, the steps to be taken towards a just and lasting peace” in Ukraine.
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Former Ukrainian far-right MP murdered in Lviv: “All leads are being investigated, including Russia”
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Steph Deschamps / July 21, 2024
In a message on Telegram, the Ukrainian National Police said she had succumbed to her injuries in hospital after being the target of an assassination attempt.
“I always say that no place is safe in Ukraine,” lamented Lviv mayor Andriï Sadovy, denouncing a ‘heinous murder’ and offering his condolences to the victim’s relatives.
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, the attack took place on Friday evening, at around 7.30pm, when an unidentified individual fired at Irina Farion, seriously wounding her in the head. “All surveillance cameras are being checked, witnesses are being interviewed and several districts (of Lviv) are being examined. All leads are being investigated, including the one leading to Russia”, reacted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X on Saturday.
Interior Minister Igor Klimenko told a briefing in Lviv on Friday evening that the suspected killer could have been lurking around Irina Farion’s home for several days.
According to him, investigators are currently focusing on the possibility of a murder motivated by a “personal grudge” linked to the victim’s activities, but are not ruling out a “commissioned assassination” either.
The 60-year-old language teacher and linguist was a member of parliament for the nationalist Svoboda party between 2012 and 2014.
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Sylvie Claire / July 18, 2024
At least six people died in a shopping mall fire on Wednesday in Zigong, southwest China, and thirty others were rescued, China’s state broadcaster CCTV said. “Rescue teams are continuing their search,” the media outlet added.
Images broadcast by the channel and others shared on social networks show thick black smoke rising from a building overlooking a shopping street in this city 1,600 kilometers from the capital Beijing, in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
The fire broke out in the early evening in a shopping mall at the foot of a 14-storey building, CCTV reported.
“At 8:20 pm, the fire was extinguished and 17 people were rescued. Others are still trapped, and rescue operations are continuing”, said the station in an initial report on the situation.
Fires and other fatal accidents are frequent in China, due to the sometimes lax application of safety standards. In January, at least 39 people perished in a store fire in central China. According to the authorities, the fire started in the basement of a store when workers “broke the rules” during construction work. At the time, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for lessons to be learned from the disaster to prevent further tragedies. The same month, a fire in a residential building claimed at least 15 lives.
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