European Central: Meloni set To Become First Female Italian Prime Minister
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After leading polls for months, Giorgia Meloni and the center-right coalition easily won the election. As Giorgia Meloni's party, Fratelli d’Italia received the most votes, she will become the Prime Minister and the first woman in Italy to do so. Media sources worldwide feared the results as Meloni is considered Italy's most conservative politician to win since World War II. This overshadowed the fact that she is the first female politician to break the glass ceiling in Italian politics. This election was also newsworthy as it was the first election after the 2020 constitutional referendum which reduced the voting age for the Senate to 18 from 25 years old. The referendum also decreased the number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies from 630 to 400 and the number of Senators from 315 to 200. Fratelli d’Italia will likely rule with Lega and Forza Italia unless the coalition breaks down which would completely change the expected government.
Looking at the age of voters and voter turnout, it is not an issue of older voters voting at a significantly higher rate than younger ones. 63 percent of voters between the ages of 18-25 voted meanwhile 64 percent of all eligible voters cast a ballot. While this age group voted less for conservative parties than older ones, 35 percent still voted for the center-right coalition. Fratelli d’Italia also received 14% of the vote from young voters, the third-highest percentage any party received. Voters in this age group favored Movimento Cinque Stelle. Partito Democratico was most favored by voters 65 years or older, with 28 percent of this age group voting for them. Fratelli di Italia followed closely behind with 27 percent. Fratelli d’Italia also won 24 percent of the vote amongst Italians with a degree, only 2 percent less than what the party won amongst all voters.
Foreign media has focused on Meloni and did not discuss some controversies involving the election in Italy. A controversy less discussed by non-Italians is the issue of Italian citizens abroad being allowed to use mail-in ballots yet young people who study away from their registered address or Italians too sick to make it to the poll are not. This potentially contributed to Italy's lowest turnout ever of only 63 percent. This is also significantly lower than The last election in 2018 which had a turnout of 73 percent. Another controversy is the fact that at polls voters must segregate by gender when lining up.
An interesting aspect of Italian politics is that due to the large-scale emigration that the nation has experienced, two political parties which received votes in this election were founded in Argentina; South American Union For Italian Emigrants and the Associative Movement for Italians Abroad. The former even has its headquarters in Buenos Aires. Only the latter had enough votes to gain seats and won one seat in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
President of the European Commission Von der Leyen threatened to sanction Italy a day before the election. Besides being perceived as a threat this is also controversial as in accordance with Italian law, campaigns end two days before the election, and the day before politics are not discussed.
Not everyone however is as worried. Matteo Renzi, a former left-wing Prime Minister of Italy does not feel there is the risk of history repeating in Italy under a coalition government led by Meloni. He is certain that fascism will not return to Italy anytime soon. He is also prepared to work together across the aisle from the opposition which is exactly what countries need. It is understandable for politicians to be disappointed if their party does not perform well but it is another when politicians refuse to work together or compromise on anything. In that case, citizens are the losers and the country has no chance to move forward. The leader of the European Central Bank also appeared calm when congratulating Meloni yet also recognized the accomplishments of Draghi over the past two years in helping Italy see economic growth higher than the average of the European Union.
When looking at Meloni's policies, some are fairly similar to other EU nations. EU nations have been securing borders to prevent illegal immigration. the Czech Republic is temporarily imposing border control checkpoints on its border with Slovakia as a result of 11,000 illegal migrants having been taken into custody this year. Meloni has argued that rather than take in some migrants into Europe, action must be taken to resolve the problems in Africa. This would help improve the lives of all rather than allow a select few the opportunity for a better life in Europe. Rather than upset at Meloni's policies, critics of her stances on issues such as migration or more upset that she is vocal on her position rather than helping maintain a false facade of a welcoming Europe. Denmark under a left-wing government passed legislation known as the jewelry law giving the government the right to seize money and possessions from migrants in excess of 10,000 kroner in order to help pay for the cost of feeding and housing them until a decision is made on whether they will be permitted to stay. Sweden also under a left-wing government reduced the number of migrants in recent years. Both nations have a significantly higher GDP per capita than Italy yet do not appear willing to help with the migrants still landing on Italy's coast. It is understandable that critics are angry she does not always employ tact when she speaks and is sometimes viewed as Italy's version of Trump, but we should not be distracted by the smoke and mirrors of other countries who may present themselves as welcoming nations when in practice they are not.
Giorgia Meloni winning the election does not doom Italy nor will it mean an end to the European Union. Both Italy and the European Union have survived extremely difficult circumstances yet survived. It does mean however that Italy will decisively move in a different direction politically. Only time will tell if this will be beneficial or harm the nation. What is clear however is that the center-right coalition won a majority in the House of Deputies and the Senate. Other nations must respect this as a result of a democratic election in Italy.
