Frédéric Michel (in Rome), edited by Juliette Moreau Alvarez
6:53 p.m., September 24, 2022
A few hours before the ballot, which some are already describing as historic, tension is at its height in Italy. Giorgia Meloni, with the alliance of Fratelli d’Italia, leads the polls in the legislative elections with 24 to 25% of the voting intentions, against 21 to 22% for the Democratic Party and 13 to 15% for the 5 Star Movement, 12% for the League and 8% for Forza Italia. With this score, an ultra-conservative coalition with Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi could win more than half of the seats in Parliament.
A change represented by the right?
In Rome, this election does not arouse major enthusiasm. But this retiree will still go to the polls tomorrow: “I will vote. Of course, it is important. Hoping that Italy will still remain a country.” For his part Guido, a Roman restaurateur, will enjoy his Sunday like many Italians. “I don’t think I will vote because there is no one representing me,” he explains. “They say the right will win. I don’t know if it’s extreme, as some say, or if it’s a marketing argument mounted by the competition rather than a real extreme right.”
If Giorgia Meloni wins, she would become the first woman to lead Italy. It would be a great victory for the far right, but not the first. Four years ago, the Lega had risen to power with the coming to power as Deputy Prime Minister of Matteo Salvini, who will also occupy a key ministry, that of the Interior. Tomorrow, the union of the rights should allow the post-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia to win with its partners from the Lega and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.
A scenario that Marisa particularly wants. “I will go to vote because I am not satisfied with our situation. I would like to live better. I am someone who pays his taxes and therefore I demand that the services work, which has not been the case until We have a lot of public disorder, a lot of chaos at all levels. This change is represented by the right.”
Meloni, the Italian “Marine Le Pen”
If the extreme right is about to win, the very notion of extreme right is not the same as in France. Thus, in Italy, what we hear a lot about Giorgia Meloni is “that you have to try”. She is the only one not to have participated in the last coalition government. Meloni still comes up against fierce opponents like this young Italian: “His ideology does not please me too much, because I am a bit modern”, she explains. “I see it a bit like an opposition, a bit like Marine Le Pen at home.”
The results of the elections are expected very late, as always in Italy, in the night from Sunday to Monday.
Source: Europe1
I am a journalist with over 6 years of experience working in the news industry. I currently work as an author for Global Happenings, and my coverage focuses on Technology news. I have written for various publications, including Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian.
