The far-right candidate could win Sunday’s general election in Italy and become the next prime minister. Immigration, Europe, individual liberties, BFMTV.com takes stock of the themes of its campaign and programming.
The latest polls give her the favourite. Giorgia Meloni, leader of Italy’s far-right party Fratelli D’Italia, Brothers of Italy, could become Italy’s next female prime minister if her party emerges victorious in Sunday’s snap general elections.
His party is considered post-fascist and is part of a right-wing coalition with the Lega, the anti-European formation led by Matteo Salvini, and Forza Italia, the conservative movement founded by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
• “Conservative” values
Giorgia Meloni herself describes her party as a “conservative” formation for which the questions of “individual freedom, “family” and “national identity” are central.
“I think there is no doubt that our values are conservative. The issues of individual freedom, private entrepreneurship in business, academic freedom, the centrality of the family and its role in our society, protecting borders from uncontrolled immigration, the defense of Italian national identity, these are the issues that concern us,” explained the 45-year-old candidate to the Washington Post in an interview in mid-September.
• The defense of “natural families”
The one who fought under the motto “God, Country and Family” defends the pattern of a traditional family, which she describes as “natural”.
“Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby! Yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology!” she said during a speech in June. She later adjusted the attitude a bit, saying she would “change the tone, not the substance” of this speech, which she delivered at a rally for Spain’s far-right Vox party. The candidate also claimed to be against the adoption of children by homosexual couples.
Abortion was also hotly debated during the election campaign after Giorgia Meloni said she wanted to give women who do not want to have an abortion a choice.
“We’re not going to touch the abortion law, we just want (women) to know that there are other options,” she said.
• Priority “Christian values”
As stated in her motto, the candidate also passionately defends “the Christian values that have founded our civilisation”. “I’m all for the crucifix that hangs on the walls of our public schools, not because I want to force anyone into the religion I believe in. […] But whether we like it or not, Christian values shaped our civilization,” she told the Washington Post.
An idea she defended back in 2019 when she told her activists in Rome: “If you feel offended by the crucifix, you shouldn’t live here. The world is vast and full of Islamic nations where you won’t find a crucifix because Christians are being persecuted and churches are being destroyed.”
“We will fight against the Islamization of Europe because we have no intention of becoming a Muslim continent,” she added.
• “National interests” before Europe
Among the other issues close to Giorgia Meloni’s heart is Europe. Burying her dream of Italy leaving the euro and now presenting herself as “pro-European”, the candidate intends to change her tone in the face of the European institutions, which she says have “violated” her “priorities”. , as shown in “Pandemic and War”.
“The party is over”, Italy “will start defending its national interests” against Brussels “like the others”, she warned at a meeting in Milan in mid-September.
The candidate advocates “a confederal Europe” that “respects the sovereignty of the Member States” by leaving them to decide on “policies of proximity” that directly affect citizens.
Against this backdrop, she is calling for the renegotiation of Italy’s post-Covid recovery plan, funded by Europe with almost €200 billion, to take into account the rise in energy costs following the war in Ukraine.
The right-wing coalition is also calling for a “revision of the Stability Pact rules”, which have been suspended because of the health crisis, which capped the deficit at 3% of GDP and the debt at 60%. And for good reason, Italy is crumbling under a debt of more than 2,700 billion euros, or about 150% of GDP, the highest ratio in the eurozone behind Greece.
• Immigration Control
Giorgia Meloni is finally planning more immigration controls. It promises to stop the migrants who arrive in the tens of thousands by boat from North Africa each year to Italian shores by offering asylum processing centers outside the EU.
“A serious state monitors and defends its borders. I never tire of repeating it: the only way to stop illegal immigration is a naval blockade, that is, a European mission in agreement with the northern authorities – Africans. Only in this way can we have put an end to illegal exits to Italy and the tragedy of the dead at sea,” she assured on Instagram at the end of August, according to the comments of the international courier.
• Ukraine, taxes, justice
In their program unveiled in early August, the right-wing parties also pledged to respect Italy’s commitments to NATO and continue to support Ukraine against Russia, while supporting diplomatic peace efforts.
They also promise tax cuts and simplifications and the implementation of measures to address Italy’s declining birth rate, particularly through job protections for young mothers.
Other promises relate to judicial reform, notably “ending media trials,” a long-standing concern of Silvio Berlusconi, who has been the subject of court cases throughout his career.