Italy’s new far-right leader formed a coalition government and became the country’s first female prime minister.
Giorgia Meloni and her cabinet will be sworn in on Saturday, an official at the presidential palace said. It is the first far-right government in Italy since World War II.
Ms Meloni’s Brothers of Italy – a party with neo-fascist roots – were the first to garner votes in Italy’s national elections last month, although they failed to win enough votes to govern outright.
Instead, Ms Meloni had to turn to her two main and sometimes troublesome right-wing allies, Matteo Salvini and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Mr. Berlusconi, three times Prime Minister, was irritated by the electoral victory of Meloni’s party. Italy’s Brothers won 26%, while Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and Salvini’s Anti-Migrant League won just over 8% each in an election with record turnout.
Hours before the formation of the new government was announced, Ms Meloni, 45, a career politician, told reporters that she and her allies had unanimously asked President Sergio Mattarella to give her the mandate to govern .
In turn, President Mattarella said he was satisfied that the government had been formed in a “short time” after the September 25 elections. After the last elections, in 2018, it took three months for a new ruling coalition to form.
During this election, Ms. Meloni’s party took just over 4%.
Obtaining the post of Prime Minister crowned a remarkably rapid rise for the Brothers of Italy. Meloni co-founded the party in December 2012, and it was considered a fringe right-wing movement during its early years.
Cabinet already divided on Ukraine
Italy and much of the rest of Europe are grappling with soaring energy costs and the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine, which could affect gas supplies this winter and continue to increase household and business electricity bills.
Mr. Berlusconi and Mr. Salvini are longtime admirers of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Ms. Meloni is a strong supporter of Ukraine in its defense against Russian invasion.
These differences could create challenges for their ruling coalition.
In a meeting this week with Forza Italia lawmakers, the former prime minister expressed sympathy for Putin’s motivation to invade Ukraine. A recording of the conversation leaked to Italian news agency LaPresse also captured Mr Berlusconi bragging that Putin sent him bottles of vodka for his 86th birthday last month and gave the Russian leader bottles of wine while the two exchanged sweet notes.
Ms Meloni speaks to the media as she stands next to Forza Italia chief Silvio Berlusconi and League party leader Matteo Salvini
New minister says same-sex marriage ‘the end of humanity’
The country’s national pandemic unity coalition collapsed in July, after Mr Salvini, Mr Berlusconi and populist 5 Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte refused to back the government in a confidence vote. This prompted President Mattarella to dissolve parliament and pave the way for elections six months earlier.
On Thursday, President Mattarella received opposition leaders, who raised concerns that Ms Meloni, who campaigned with a “God, Fatherland, Family” agenda, would seek to erode human rights. abortion and rolling back rights such as same-sex civil unions.
On Friday, Ms Meloni approached an ultra-conservative Catholic, Eugenia Maria Roccella, to be her minister for families, births and equal opportunities.
At an event in Rome in 2018 which Ms Meloni attended, Ms Roccella pledged to work against Italy’s law legalizing same-sex civil unions and called same-sex marriage “the end of humanity”.
