Right Party Linked to Fascism Expected to Win Italian Elections

Italy's “brothers, led by Giorgia Melon, lead the polls, and 45-year-old politician is on track to become Italy's first prime minister.

My biggest wish is to rise up, to lift our country back from falling”, she says.

Italy's “Party has its roots in neofashism. Mrs. Mellon is a former activist who praised dictator Benito Mussolini. But now she says she's changed.

“Every time the election campaign opens, the fascist alarm goes off. It's very funny to dig videos of things I thought about when I was 15, 16 or 17, she says.

Mrs. Mellon's polling party receives about 25 per cent support, six times larger than in recent elections.

It is particularly about its policy platform, its conservative social views, the economic ones, which are also very social in some way in terms of, for example, rising pensions and other social benefits for people. But it is also popular with people. And here I would isolate, for example, her speech style, which is much simpler”, says Louis Scazier from the European Reform Center.

She is also a new figure in Italian politics. Its potential coalition partners have already attended the Italian political scene.

Among them, former populist interior minister Matteo Salvin. He is currently being tried on charges of kidnapping, for obstructing the landing of more than 100 immigrants who were rescued from a humanitarian ship in Italy in 2019. He has denied the charges.

Political veteran Silvio Berlusconi, who soon turns 86, is likely also part of the right-wing coalition. He has opened a channel on the TikTok platform to attract new voters.

Analyst Luigi Scazzier says the European Union fears Italy may become problematic, but these concerns may be groundless.

“They have made very clear that their government will stick to obligations to the EU, the Euros and NATO”, he says.

In the past, the extreme Italian right has had close ties with Moscow. But Mrs. Mellon has repeatedly expressed her support for Ukraine.

“We condemn, without “if” and “por”, Russia's brutal aggression against Ukraine”, it says.

For many Italians, economics, jobs, and the rising cost of living are the greatest concerns.

I have a very small pension. After I pay my rent and my electricity bill, I have nothing left for food. This is the situation”, says pensioner Antonio Mela.

The government, due out of Sunday's vote, will be Italy's 70th since 1945. Many observers say the coalition led by Mrs. Melon seems unstable, and Italy may again face early elections. /Vosa