Election in Italy: New rights and old friends - who will inherit Mario Draghi?
Created: 08/30/2022, 12:41 p.m
By: Christian Stör
In Italy, on September 25, 2002, the parliament will be re-elected prematurely.
The most important candidates at a glance.
1 / 13Italy is about to shift to the right.
100 years after the fascists under Benito Mussolini seized power, the right-wing extremist Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) around party leader Giorgia Meloni have the best chance of taking over the government in the fall.
A post-fascist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni scares many people.
© Piero Tenagli/Imago
2 / 13At an event held by the far-right Spanish party Vox in mid-June, she loudly made it clear what she rejects: immigration, LGBTQ groups, gender ideologies, the Brussels bureaucracy.
In an Italy where many openly express their admiration for the "Duce" Mussolini, Meloni's views are popular.
Most recently, she tried to use more moderate tones.
Europe and the world need not worry about Italy, she said in a campaign speech.
© Gabriele Maricchiolo/Imago
3 / 13Meloni does not describe herself as a fascist.
A look at her party's election logo gives food for thought.
The flame as a symbol of the right has been the hallmark of post-fascists in Italy for decades.
It reminds many of Benito Mussolini's grave, on which a lamp burns as an eternal light.
Meloni had been asked not to set fire to it, and Holocaust survivors also appealed to her.
She didn't change it.
© Riccardo Fabi/Imago
4 / 13Due to the complicated electoral system in Italy, it is advantageous to forge alliances.
According to polls, Melonis Fratelli d'Italia is the strongest force in the so-called centre-right alliance.
Fighting alongside her are Matteo Salvini (Lega, pictured here on the left) and Silvio Berlusconi (Forza Italia).
If the center-right alliance wins, Meloni is likely to claim the post of prime minister.
© CLAUDIO PERI/afp
5 / 13 One of them wants to over-salt Meloni's soup.
Matteo Salvini hopes to outperform his rival in the election campaign.
In any case, the right-wing populist sees himself prepared for the office of head of government in the event of a surprising election victory for his party Lega.
"I'm absolutely ready," he said during a brief visit to the refugee camp on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.
© Antonio Balasco/Imago
6 / 13During his brief visit to Lampedusa in early August, Salvini said that if the centre-right took power, he wanted to "secure borders" and stop the flow of migrants.
"Italy must not open its gates to illegal immigrants who are not fleeing any war." Even during his time as Minister of the Interior from 2018 to 2019, Salvini took tough action against boat people and sea rescuers.
Because of some incidents, he now has to answer to Italian courts.
© David Lohmueller/dpa
7 / 13Silvio Berlusconi is the third in the centre-right alliance.
He likes to give a fatherly figure, which Matteo Salvini felt in March 2018.
In fact, former Prime Minister Berlusconi and his conservative Forza Italia would still be the most moderate in this right-wing extremist association - and that's saying something.
Berlusconi and Salvini maintain a close relationship with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
He would certainly be happy about the shift to the right in Italy.
© Andrew Medichini/dpa
8 / 13Actually, Berlusconi wanted to become President in 2022.
Nothing came of it.
Now he has a new goal: Berlusconi is running for the Senate in Rome.
For Berlusconi, it would be a return to the smaller chamber of parliament after the 85-year-old was fired from there in 2013 after being convicted of tax fraud.
And secretly he dreams of becoming President of the Senate.
Or maybe not so secret after all?
The post is said to have been promised to him by Meloni and Salvini for helping get rid of Draghi.
© Pasquale Gargano/Imago
9 / 13Can a success of the centre-right bloc in Italy still be prevented?
The Social Democrats around Enrico Letta still believe in it.
Basically, the former prime minister is doing well.
In all polls, the PD he leads is almost level with Melonis Fratelli d'Italia.
The survey values are of little use to Letta at first.
Because of the electoral system in Italy, he urgently needs allies.
© Fabio Frustaci/Imago
In fact, the Social Democrats are desperately trying to achieve such a centre-left alliance.
But this is not going smoothly.
When the Greens, the Left (Sinistra Italiana) and also the new party of Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio (Impegno Civico, pictured here) joined the alliance led by Letta, the center party Azione - which was actually the first to sign a deal with the PD - promptly announced had signed - the end of the cooperation.
© Mauro Scrobogna/dpa
11 / 13Azione boss and former minister Carlo Calenda (pictured) justified his resignation as follows: “I don't feel well anymore.
It's undignified to do politics like that." Letta then replied on Twitter: "It seems to me that Calenda is the only possible partner of Calenda." But that's not true, because Calenda found a new alliance partner shortly afterwards.
© Massimo Di Vita/Imago
12 / 13And who is Calenda's new partner?
None other than former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (pictured here).
The two parties Italia Viva (Renzi) and Azione (Calenda) form a central alliance that wants to win over moderate voters and thus possibly play a role as kingmaker.
The campaign is led by Calenda.
His goal is to persuade the still incumbent, non-party Prime Minister Mario Draghi to continue after the election.
© Angelo Carconi/Imago
13 / 13And then there's Giuseppe Conte.
The former head of government has now taken over the leadership of the Five Star Movement.
It was still the strongest party in 2018 with 32 percent, but has now plummeted to around 10 percent in the polls.
Not only has the party lost its electorate, potential allies also want nothing to do with it.
Above all, Conte's role in the fall of Mario Dragahi annoys everyone else.
So Conte is probably the role of the bankruptcy trustee.
© Massimo Percossi/Imago