- Fratelli d’Italia’s sensational electoral performance led her leader and the entire coalition to the top of the state.
- Challengers and biased media repeat a few ritual theses to ruin the image and reshape the success.
- However, the campaign and the definitive perspectives show a wise mix of pragmatism and knowledge.
On 25th September 2022 Italian voters came to the polls and elected a right-wing majority after a left-dominated decade. Results were clear and largely predicted: many polls suggested the coalition’s growth since last year, and as Draghi withdrew in July, all experts agreed it was only a matter of “how much” and not of “if”. The winner among winners is without any doubt Giorgia Meloni and her Brothers of Italy party.
Many people, especially on the Left and in mainstream media, claim the Right won because of populist and banal proposals, violent tones, and partisan opposition. Frankly, this vision is not wrong: Brothers of Italy was the only major party that denied support to the former Draghi government and all of its measures, such as healthcare mandates and enforcements.
The main accusation against the leading party is the post-fascist roots of many MPs, which would mean a natural inspiration by Mussolini’s doctrine by the entire party. Let’s make it clear: Brothers of Italy can be seen as a natural heir of the Italian Social Movement, a party that was created by former officials of the fascist regime and sympathizers, such as Giorgio Almirante and Pino Rauti, and in many ideas, it followed traditional views emailed by fascism, but the party was composed also by monarchists and right-wing bourgeoises, which did not admire Mussolini. Moreover, the party supported the admission of Italy into NATO and in the first European communitarian projects, while the left-extremist counterpart, the Italian Communist Party, rejected the Italian international affiliation, the one which finally gave huge benefits to the country. The oldest more extreme “fanbase” never recognized 1994 swift, in which secretary Gianfranco Fini decided the elimination every reference to the “Ventennio” era, and many still celebrate the struggles in “Plumb years” against left-terror groups, but this vision is only about personal opinion, which is not even mentioned and pursuit by the party’s program. However, also Democratic Party has MPs who fought in the 70s and were members of the PCI, while other parties like the 5 Stars Movement openly exchange favours and support with extremist dictatorships such as China, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Another evergreen is the idea that Right-wingers have no allies in Europe and it would result in an isolationist condition. Brothers of Italy is not part of the two main families in the Euro parliament (centre-right EPP and center-left S&D), but Giorgia Meloni is the actual president of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) party, which includes ruling parties like the Polish Law and Justice and the Swedish Democrats or parties like Vox Espana which will run for ruling their country. Besides the EU Parliament, this group can lean on solid links with the conservative parties of the anglosphere. In particular, Giorgia Meloni in person engaged herself in a huge correspondence with the American Right, as she is a member of many think tanks (Aspen Institute) and she was invited to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), nearside Donald Trump and the most influent Republican Congressmen and speakers. First statements about the Ukrainian and Taiwanese crisis denounce a solid loyalty to NATO and Western World, contradicting the suspect she would have acted as a Russian ally. The individual action of the single MPs is another helping hand to the international perspectives, in particular, personalities such as Raffaele Fitto, Adolfo Urso, and Giulio Terzi di Sant ’Agata are extra-sponsors of the western affiliation of the party.
Another interesting criticism, put by challenger Carlo Calenda, is about the economic plan the new government is going to pursue. Historically, the Italian Social Movement supported a certain state intervention in the economy to defend national interests and assets, but with the arrival of Berlusconi, free-market stances have become much more popular: many entrepreneurs like Guido Crosetto entered the party and others gave proposals to enrich the program. Giorgia Meloni then started a huge campaign against the so-called Reddito di Cittadinanza (a stimulus for unemployed people theoretically looking for a job), proposing in contrast a cut on tax for high-employment firms and a more general cut on tax wedge (46%). She also opposed a new cadastre reform, which could have augmented taxes on private housing, and these days, she has accepted to sell to a private the national flying company ITA.
Anyway, the real motivation for the poll results hasn’t to be found in formal friendships or miraculous theories. People prized the substance and the pragmatism the party showed as opposition and then in the electoral campaign. They treated inflation and the high fuel prices as top points, while other parties like the Democratic Party, who pushed for a campaign based on identity policies and rights but detached from the actual first exigencies, and the 5 Stars Movement gained votes from the promises on the enlargement of welfare. Many would claim again that’s a populist and banal approach toward politics, but that’s a simple interest in everyday issues. Another female PM, Margaret Thatcher, started her 12-years-long office focusing on inflation and the daily struggles of the Britons, while the Labourists backed an ideological project of social democracy based on wide welfare and bureaucracy. Many international observers found Giorgia Meloni’s ascent very close to the “Iron Lady”’s one and the same leader agrees with Reagan’s idea of “State at the service of the people, and not the opposite”. We will never really know if she would bring a systemic revolution as Reagan and Thatcher did, but the fact she earned a so large consensus, is itself a revolution.
RESOURCES:
https://www.ilpost.it/2018/04/04/prodi-seduta-spiritica-moro/
https://www.tempi.it/venezuela-maduro-chavez-casaleggio-m5s-finanziamento-grillo-cina/
https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/da-vox-morawiecki-chi-sono-alleati-europa-meloni-AEEjdL3B
https://tg24.sky.it/economia/2022/09/29/governo-meloni-reddito-cittadinanza
The Bear Street Journal. 
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