Meloni sweeps the 25-S but asks Draghi for help

Giorgia Meloni is set to become the first woman to head an Italian government. The leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party swept the transalpine country’s general election , leaving behind not only the center-left coalition (which stood 18 points behind) but also its allies Matteo Salvini of the League ( 8.9%) and Silvio Berlusconi (8.3%).

The right-wing coalition as a whole reaches 44% but, as a result of the Italian electoral law, it will have a large majority, close to 60% in Parliament: 235 seats out of 400 in the Chamber of Deputies and 113 seats out of 200 in the Senate, which also votes confidence in the Executive.? The center-left, represented by the Democratic Party, obtained 26% and will have just 80 deputies and 41 senators, while the populist 5-Star Movement, which has managed to come back with respect to the polls, reaching 15.5%, wins 51 seats in the House. and 28 in the Senate.

The liberal center of Carlo Calenda and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has failed in its attempt to snatch votes from the right and has remained at 7.7%, achieving twenty deputies and a dozen senators.? Such a large government majority It is a novelty for a parliament that for nine years has not been able to form stable Executives.

And for Meloni it is the opportunity to form a cabinet that will last the five years of the legislature, something that no Italian prime minister has achieved in 70 years of democracy. For this reason, the ultra leader, after the victory, once again kept a low profile that had marked part of his electoral campaign, with the aim of reassuring the more moderate voters and also Italy’s international allies.

Meloni, who five years ago predicted the “collapse” of the eurozone and defined the ECB and the European Commission as “a committee of businesses and usurers”, celebrated his victory on election night explaining: “This is the time of responsibility. A time in which, if we want to be part of history, we must understand the responsibility we have towards tens of millions of people”.

Free to form government
Before the formation of the new Government, it will be necessary to wait for the inauguration of the new Parliament, scheduled for October 13, and then the consultations of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.

The head of state, who in Italy is the guarantor of the Constitution, has the veto power over the ministers and in 2018 he had no doubts when intervening to reject some names of the populist cabinet formed by the League and the 5-Star Movement .

This is why Meloni is studying a government with technocrats in key positions , starting with the Ministry of Economy: the leader, according to the transalpine press, has been “courting” Fabio Panetta, a member of the ECB executive committee , for months .

The Treasury is, together with Foreign Affairs, one of the fundamental boxes to give guarantees to European and North American allies and continuity to Mario Draghi’s economic and international policy.

The leader of the Brothers of Italy in the formation of the Executive will have a free hand: her internal competitor, the pro-Russian Matteo Salvini (who had garnered 34% in the European elections in 2019 and now does not even reach 9%) obtained a result far below expectations and his leadership is questioned in his own party; the other ally, Silvio Berlusconi, at 86 years old, has had a better than expected result , but far from the glory of yesteryear and aims to be decisive above all as a link between Meloni and the popular Europeans.

budget challenge
“The situation in which Italy, Europe and the world find themselves is not easy and for this reason everyone’s contribution is necessary, a serene atmosphere and everyone’s respect”, said Meloni celebrating his victory. The main challenge for the ultra leader is to manage the Italian economy in a difficult situation, overcoming the skepticism of investors and the European Commission towards her government.

The 200,000 million euros of the recovery plan that, between loans and subsidies, Italy must receive depend on the future relations between Rome and Brussels . For this reason, the winning party prepares, even before forming a government, to save the accounts. Guido Crosetto, co-founder of Brothers of Italy and Meloni’s right-hand man, made it clear on election night.

“I remember that the Budgets have to be sent to Brussels on October 16. The new Government would not have time to prepare them. For this reason, I believe that we should commit ourselves to a dialogue between the outgoing Government and the newly elected ones and work together,” Crosetto declared.

The prospect of a stable majority and a certain continuity with Draghi’s economic program was welcomed by investors: the Milan Stock Exchange opened and closed the day positively.