Far right party wins Italian election

Meloni’s right-wing coalition, which also includes Matteo Salvini’s right-wing coalition and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia, now appears to have won. The country’s Senedd and House of Representatives are expected to receive 42.2 percent of the Senedd’s vote.

The decision of who will be the next leader of Italy is in the hands of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and it will take time to know the outcome.

While Meloni has worked hard to soften her image, highlight her support for Ukraine and tone down anti-EU rhetoric, she leads a party that has grown from neo-fascists who revere a former dictator the country Benito Mussolini The rise of molecular movements.

Earlier this year, Meloni outlined her priorities if she were to govern in a raucous speech to Spain’s far-right party, Vox: “Pro-natural family, against LGBT rights group lobbying, for gender identity, Against gender ideology, against Islamist violence , for safety. borders, against mass immigration, say no to big international funding… stand up to the bureaucrats in Brussels!”

Italy’s centre-left League was far behind with 26 percent of the vote. Democrat Debora Serracchiani said it was a sad night for Italy. She asserts that the right “has a majority in parliament, but not in the country”.

The left has failed to form a viable coalition with other parties after Italy’s 18-month government of national unity collapsed in July. Even before the vote, incumbents were frustrated. The Five Star Movement, led by Giuseppe Conte, is expected to finish third, but despite some centre-left policies of his party, he is not in the same league as former Prime Minister Letta, the left-wing party Democracy Party (Partito Democratico ) has been shared.

Italy’s interior ministry said turnout had fallen sharply this time, with 63.82 per cent at the end of the polls, almost 10 per cent less than in 2018. The turnout was particularly low in regions southern, including Sicily.

Italy is one of the founding nations of the European Union and a member of NATO, and Meloni’s comments about the EU have led her to be considered close to Hungarian nationalist leader Viktor Orban. In addition, its allies have close ties with Russia. Berlusconi, 85, claimed last week that Putin was being forced to invade Ukraine, while Salvini questioned Western sanctions on Moscow.

Meloni wants to revisit the reforms that Italy has agreed with the EU in exchange for up to 200 billion euros for post-pandemic recovery and loans. She claims that the European energy crisis has changed the situation. Balazs Orban, the long-time political director of Hungary’s prime minister, was quick to congratulate Italy’s right-wing parties: “More than ever, we need allies with a shared vision and response to Europe’s challenges.”

In France, Jordan Bardella, a member of the far-right National Rally party, said that Italian voters had given the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, a class lesson in humility. Because the latter has previously stated that if Italy chooses to go in a “difficult direction”, Europe will have “the means” to respond.

However, Gianluca Passarelli, a professor at the University of Rome I, told the BBC that he believed that if Meloni came to power, he would initially avoid conflict with European policy and focus on other things: “I think we’ll see more restrictions on civil rights, LGBT and immigration policies at home.”

Salvini wants to return to the interior ministry to stop refugee boats from entering Italy from Libya. The election marks a reduction of a third in the size of both chambers, which will benefit the party with the majority. According to an exit poll by Rai TV, the three main parties will take around 227 to 257 seats out of the 400 seat reshuffle. It has 111 to 131 seats in the 200 seat Senedd.

Salvini said the right has a clear advantage in both houses. The Rita poll also showed that Meloni’s coalition is likely to dominate, with the centre-left holding only 78 to 98 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 to 53 seats in the Senedd.

The BBC’s Chinese correspondent Lu Jiahong

In this election, the outside world is also paying attention to the cross-strait policy with which the new prime minister is popular. In March 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping flew to Rome and signed a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative with then Prime Minister Antonio Conte. Italy is the only member of the Group of Seven (G7) that participates in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Taiwan’s official media Central News Agency published an exclusive interview on September 23, and Meloni responded to cross-strait issues in writing. This is the first time an Italian political leader has been interviewed by Taiwanese media in many years. Meloni told the Central News Agency that if there is a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait, it will have a direct impact on Europe. He said the EU should use all political and diplomatic means to “do everything in its power to exert pressure to avoid a conflict in the Taiwan Strait.”

“Don’t forget that the EU is also China’s main export market, and if they decide to attack Taiwan, it could lead to the closing of the market (exports to China),” he told the Central News Agency. – a proper party she leads and Taiwan “because sincere friendship is involved”. If she can lead the next government, she will promote more bilateral cooperation between Italy and Taiwan.

But his comments were met with protests in Beijing. After the exclusive Central News Agency interview was released, the Chinese embassy in Italy also issued a statement on the same day, saying, “China has noticed some negative comments related to Taiwan, and has used the Taiwan issue to talking things out and instigating toughness against. China. The Chinese side expresses strong displeasure and firm opposition to the comments.”

The statement emphasized that “no matter how the international situation changes, adhering to openness and cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results should always be the mainstream of the development of China-Italy relations. China attaches great importance to the development of relations with Italy, and is ready to grasp the correct development direction of the joint China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership.”

In any case, the election has already had an impact on the country’s young people. Jessica, who is in the fashion industry in her 20s from northern Italy, told BBC Chinese, “I’m not really surprised by this result. It’s a result of the right-wing climate in Italy today, although the number who vote in But as young women, I fear that the road to civil rights will come to an abrupt end. But as a member of the European Union, I hope that some extreme policy aspects will be hinder.”