NEWNow you can listen to the articles from Fox News!
Giogia Meloni, leader of the right-wing political party Fratelli d’Italia, appeared on track to win the Italian elections on Sunday, according to the exit polls.
According to the Rai broadcaster, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, in alliance with two right-wing parties, it seemed destined to collect up to 45% of the votes in both houses of Parliament, compared to the closest contender, the center-left alliance of former premier of the Democratic Party. Enrico Letta, who seems to have collected less than a third of the votes. According to Rai, the exit poll has a margin of error of 3.5%.
The Leader of Brothers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni in Rome, Italy, on September 22, 2022, for the closing of the election campaign for the general elections in Italy on September 25, 2022.
(Getty Images)
Four hours before the closing time of the polls, voter turnout was 7% lower than in the same period in 2018, which had a record turnout of 73%. Ballot counting was to begin shortly after polling stations close at 11pm, with partial results projections arriving Monday.
“Today you can help write history,” Meloni tweeted Sunday.
If she wins, Meloni would be well positioned to become Italy’s first far-right premier since the end of World War II and the first woman in the country to hold that office. Her party – of neo-fascist roots – would need to form a coalition with its main allies, the leader of the anti-migrant League Matteo Salvini and the former conservative premier Silvio Berlusconi to obtain a solid majority in Parliament.
EUROPEAN NATIONS SHIFT RIGHT AS ECONOMIC DISORDERS ADDRESS THE CONTINENT
Italy’s complex electoral law rewards electoral coalitions, which means Democrats are at a disadvantage as they have failed to secure an equally broad alliance with left-wing populists and centrists.
However, the creation of a viable governing coalition in Italy could take weeks. Almost 51 million Italians were able to vote on Sunday. Despite Europe’s numerous crises, many voters have told pollsters they feel alienated from politics. Italy has had three coalition governments since the last election, each led by someone who had not run for office.
Journalists examine the projections of the first results in a hotel where the far-right Brothers of Italy party awaits the outcome of the vote in Rome on Sunday 25 September 2022.
(Photo AP / Gregorio Borgia)
Meloni’s meteoric rise in Italy comes at a critical time as Italian businesses and households are struggling to pay the dizzying gas and electricity bills, a repercussion of European energy policies and the war in Ukraine. In some cases, energy costs 10 times more than last year.
The kind of government the eurozone’s third economy might have has been closely watched in Europe, given Meloni’s criticisms of “Brussels bureaucrats” and his ties to other right-wing leaders.
He recently defended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban after the European Commission recommended suspending billions of euros in funding to Hungary due to concerns about democratic downturn and possible mismanagement of EU money.
IN 50 YEARS THE ITALIAN POPULATION CAN REDUCE 11 MILLION PEOPLE, STUDY EXHIBITION
Election Sunday was held six months early after the collapse of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s pandemic unity government in late July.
Opinion polls found Draghi, a former head of the European Central Bank, was extremely popular. But the three populist parties in his coalition boycotted a vote of confidence linked to an energy relief measure. Their leaders, Salvini, Berlusconi and the leader of the 5 Star Movement Giuseppe Conte, former premier whose party is the largest in the outgoing parliament, saw Meloni’s popularity grow as theirs slipped.
Meloni kept his Brothers of Italy party in opposition, refusing to join Draghi’s unity government or the two Conte coalitions that ruled after the 2018 vote.
Meloni, however, distanced himself from Salvini and Berlusconi with tireless support for Ukraine, including sending weapons so that Kiev could defend itself against Russia.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Before the invasion of Russia, Salvini and Berlusconi had gushed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Salvini, drawing heavily on the support of his constituents from entrepreneurs, expressed fear that the Italian economy could be hit too hard by the repercussions of Western sanctions against Russia.
Draghi remains as caretaker until a new government is sworn in.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
