The exit poll came in earlier tonight showing a clear victory and she is already getting congratulations from the leaders of Hungary and Poland - both right wing governments who will be very happy with this.
The Guardian in another article said this of her:
She wrote in her biography, Io Sono Giorgia – I am Giorgia – that she was instinctively drawn to MSI’s youth movement [the Italian Social Movement, formed in 1946 by supporters of Mussolini], where she said she found solidarity in a close-knit, if marginalised, community of militants…
Meloni rejects the idea that her politics are fascist, arguing that the Italian right consigned fascism to history decades ago. She has said there are no “nostalgic fascists, racists or antisemites in the Brothers of Italy DNA” and that she has always got rid of “ambiguous people”.
However, not everyone is convinced. Brothers of Italy has retained MSI’s tricoloured flame in its official logo and its headquarters is at the same address…where MSI set up office in 1946.
In the summer, Meloni…travelled to Marbella where she expressed her hardline views on immigration and homosexuality during an aggressive speech at a rally held by her party’s Spanish far-right counterpart Vox.
If that’s who Italians want to run their government, so be it. They can turn her out if she turns into a right-wing fascist monster. That’s how Democracy works. Societies often don’t move forward in only one direction. They zig-zag.
I guess we’re not celebrating Italy’s first female Prime Minister, and first Prime Minister from a single parent family rather than coming from money and power?
I don’t know if they are ‘far right’ because the media seems to describe everything right of center now as ‘far right’. Conservatives in Canada and the UK are now ‘far right’ and ‘extremist’, as are most Republicans in the States and the Swedish right.
Most of what I’ve heard from Italy are chants for ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’. Not very fascist of them. They do want more immigration control, however. And that’s understandable given the mess unlimited immigration has made in Europe.
I would be worried about the EU leader’s threat against Italy should they elect the ‘wrong’ people Trying to manipulate Italy’s election should not be something the EU does.
The EU has itself to blame for the rise of these right-wing nationalist governments. When globalists and supra-nationalists become authoritarian, nationalists start to win elections. See also: Brexit.
If the energy situation gets really bad this winter, expect this trend to accelerate.
“We will see the result of the vote in Italy. If things go in a difficult direction, we have tools, as in the case of Poland and Hungary.”
-President of the EU, Ursula Von der Leyen, three days before the Italian election.
Given my experience with Republicans, I suspect the issue is that the Conservatives you mention have actually changed their views. I mean, the ones who actually hold to traditional conservatives values and have been in the party for decades are labeled RINOs.
I’m not sure why you think people shouting “freedom” and “liberty” would mean they aren’t far right. Authoritarians love to pitch their ideas as if they are actually pro-freedom. Hell, that’s what you love to argue about the left.
The idea that immigration is causing problems is an odd one. Why is it that only one side seems ever see that? Why is it that studies show that immigration actually helps countries? I’ll tell you: people see these different people, and then blame whatever problems arise on them. That’s the basic authoritarian playbook: blame someone lesser who you can scapegoat.
And then you’re very clearly misrepresenting the quote you gave. The EU didn’t say they would do something if the wrong people came to power. They said they were prepared to deal with the situation if things go in a difficult direction. I don’t know much about Poland, but Hungary is in pretty bad shape when it comes to actual liberty.
As pointed out in the OP, the woman in question praised the Fascist party of old for getting her into politics, and has chosen to use their symbols. Even without knowing anything else about her, that is worrying. If someone said that joining KKK got them into politics and used the Rebel flag as part of their logo, I’d be very concerned about them, too.
And I’ll end with pointing out that people are responsible for their own decisions. Nothing can make someone decide that people from their nation are superior and others are inferior–that only their self interest matters, and not the interest of others. Nationalism is and remains a core part of fascism.
I think an anti-immigration stance in itself should not put a politician beyond the pale. (Demonizing immigrants is another matter.)
You know what is a deal-breaker? If someone, in their adult years, says that a totalitarian dictator like Mussolini was “a good politician, the best in the last 50 years.” Someone with such poor judgment has no business holding elected office. This should not even be a partisan issue.
Likewise, if a politician in 2022 denounces same-sex marriages and even same-sex partnerships, and says on TV that she would “rather not have a gay child”… Well, that can’t be explained away or relativized.
I wouldn’t be too concerned the result of the Italian election.
The European Central Bank always has one hand on Italy’s purse strings, with the country dependent on it to continuing to fund its huge debt. If an Italian government steps too far out of line, a tug of those strings will generally pull it back. Otherwise, as Berlusconi found out, you could soon be an ex-government. Such is the lot of debtor nations in the eurozone.
Hungary and Poland do not use the euro, so have more leeway to rebel against EU orthodoxy.
It happened at the last Italian election, which resulted in a coalition of Five Star and Matteo Silvini’s League, who even made noises about leaving the euro. That all came to nothing, and pretty soon the populists learned to behave themselves and get in line with the establishment. Which has led to their decline and the rise of this year’s model of populism, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.
Meloni knows all this and has been at pains to stress her pro-EU credentials. Whatever her platform was, she knows her room for manoeuvre is limited. Don’t expect anything too radical.
She does not appear to be Fascist, but instead a right wing Populist. I wish people would stop misusing the term “Fascist”. I doubt if she will become the dictator of a totalitarian state. (Of course, both Mussolini and Hitler started as Right Wing Populists, so…)
Right Wing Populism was all the rage, what with trump, Boris Johnson, Modi, and many others. It is still there and still popular with the “unwashed masses”.
Italy changes governments more often than some dudes change their socks. (66 times since WW2). Nor is Italy anything even close to a World Power. I am not concerned at this time.
If you were gay or trans Italian citizen you would be extremely concerned. I also imagine immigrants, especially Muslims, will be feeling pretty vulnerable right now too.
She may not be a fascist however these far right leaders sometimes don’t show their true colours until they have been elected.
I don’t know if this is really worth posting, so apologies, but…
I’m in Italy right now. Been here for several days. Prior to the election I was caught up in a number of street rallies (not my intent, of course) and I’m surprised at how much graffiti I see referencing sexuality and gender and socialism.
Well this Swedish person, living in Sweden was appalled when someone from the party furthest to the right (Sverigedemokraterna) suggested putting up machine guns at the border to stop the horde of Muslims trying to enter and destroy our freedom. Said party adopted - in the election recently held - the following slogan: Make Sweden Good Again*.
The conservatives, christian democrats and the liberal party has agreed to let them get half of the chair and co-chair posts for the parliament’s committees in order to get support for getting the post as prime minister.
So sure, it’s the liberal MSM that uses labels far removed from the truth./s
Hopefully, for Ms. Meloni’s sake, the transition of power from her government to the next will be smoother than the last time an Italian fascist regime fell.
You have a Politician who leads a party, the party appeals to neo-fascists and has history and nostalgia for the Fascist past. So, that means she is a totalitarian right wing dictator? No, she is a “A right-wing populist and Italian nationalist,” as per wiki.
Right wing Populism has become Fascism in the past, and it is something to watch out for. But it is not Fascism.
Note the “authoritarian”, and “dictatorial” terms. The PM of Italy does not really have that kind of authority. There is also militarism, which may not fly in Italy. She has also stated that “Italian fascism is history”. That could be a lie, of course.
Note that the turn out for this election was the lowest in history, and so her government could be kicked out in less than a month. It has happened before.
The disturbing part is the swing towards right wing populism in Europe, with Truss, Orban, Morawiecki and others. We had trump, of course.
People overuse that term “fascist” to an extent it is becoming meaningless.
(66 times since WW2). Nor is Italy anything even close to a World Power. I am not concerned at this time.