Giorgia Meloni wants to replace Draghi

Marine Le Pen may be defeated for now, but Europe’s right-wing lives on. For example in the person of Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the Fratelli d’Italia, which emerged from the post-fascist movement. In any case, Meloni is not deterred by Le Pen’s defeat in France. For this weekend she has her followers in one invited to a big happening in Milan. At the conference, Meloni wants to “deepen” the party program, as she said. Above all, the 45-year-old politician wants to emphasize her claim to leadership in the right-wing camp.

It is true that it is not yet known exactly when and according to which rules next year’s elections will take place and which party coalitions will form by then. But if the right-wing camp comes together, the next head of government will be the party leader whose party gets the most votes within the alliance, said Meloni – and left no doubt that she wants to be that person.

Salvini, the problem bear

It is no coincidence that the congress is taking place in Milan of all places. The capital of Lombardy is not only Italy’s economic engine, but also the base of the Lega, which has conquered all of Italy from the north in recent decades and, in Matteo Salvini, is one of the busiest figures in Italian politics. Here, of all places, the Roman Meloni wants to mark her presence.

Because Salvini and with him his Lega are lame. This has to do with the government participation, which robs the former opposition force of its energy. Above all, however, it is related to the person of Matteo Salvini himself, who has done anything but “bella figura” in recent months. His closeness to Vladimir Putin was his undoing, as was his inability to stand still and wait for political opponents to make a mistake. Instead, he behaves clumsily like a problem bear and falls into the traps that Meloni sets for him.

The consequences: Salvini’s Lega falls in the polls away. According to polls, since the 2019 European elections, their share of the vote has more than halved and is now around 15 percent. The change in the Lega from a strictly federalist force to a right-wing populist party has not done it any good in the long term. It seems as if these recipes have survived. Melonis Fratelli, on the other hand, tripled in the same period and is now over 21 percent. Berlusconi’s business-friendly Forza Italia, on the other hand, can consistently count on around 8 percent. There is no doubt that the 45-year-old Meloni’s claim to leadership can be justified.

Together, the right-wing camp, made up of these three parties, achieved around 45 percent and is currently significantly stronger than the Centrosinistra.

Of course, Giorgia Meloni has it easier than Salvini. With her party, she is currently the only opposition force. Everyone else is part of the majority supporting Mario Draghi’s government. His term expires next year and – much to the chagrin of most Italians and European partners – it is highly unlikely that he will continue at the Palazzo Chigi, the seat of government.

opposition, but with moderation

Meloni plays the opposition role quite cleverly. She immediately realized that she could capitalize on this, because she can take far more liberties than Salvini or Berlusconi. At the same time, she moderated herself. Or eaten chalk, as their critics say.

She still likes to be the «ragazza» Garbatella, a district of Rome that was created in the 1920s and later expanded by Mussolini to make room for his monumental architecture in the center of the city. And if she wants, she, who has been scorned by her opponents as a fishmonger, can unpack her rough Roman suburban soul. Then she rants in a raspy voice against immigrants and sea rescuers, against Rome and gender activists, against the left and the established – entirely according to the proven recipes of right-wing populism.

But she can also be different. When Russia attacked Ukraine, she quickly took a stand and spoke almost as statesmanlike as Mario Draghi: against Putin, for NATO, for solidarity with the United States. In contrast, Salvini, who understands Putin, looked very old. And recently, when asked about the French elections, she said without further ado that she did not feel politically close to Marine Le Pen. Salvini, on the other hand, backed the wrong horse again: he showed solidarity with the loser in the duel against Macron.

Meloni distanced himself in good time from the previous, ultimately unsuccessful positions of the European right-wing populists, while the head of the Lega does not want to break away from them. If it weren’t for the differences over Ukraine, Meloni would fit in best with Viktor Orban and his idea of ​​”illiberal democracy”.

Ideological potpourri

The boss of the Fratelli d’Italia is flexible. In your 2021 published autobiography, which is now in its 16th edition, quotes from Bertolt Brecht to the conservative British intellectual Roger Scruton to Pope Benedict XVI. and the Italian cantautori, pretty much all of them, who have crossed her path or who have impressed her in the course of her language studies and her now long career as a professional politician. Her ideology is more reminiscent of a general store than a rigid thought construct – and fits well with her decidedly anti-elitist attitude. She picks whatever is right across the milieu.

That’s how she gets to people. “Io sono Giorgia. Sono una donna, sono una madre, sono italiana, sono cristiana” – this is how she wants to be perceived: as a woman, mother, Italian and Christian. Her conservative credo, which she formulated in a speech in autumn 2019, was soon made into a video remix that was shared millions of times. Meloni has now become very popular, and her Fratelli d’Italia have moved from the fringes to the center of Italian politics.

Now they are preparing for the big leap. Participation in government and even the office of prime minister are within sight. Meloni no longer wants to reveal the lead on the right camp, nor her claim to leadership.

«Sono Giorgia»

Their Achilles’ heel remains the political and cultural background of their movement, which goes back in direct line to the fascist party of the “Duce” Benito Mussolini. Post- and neo-fascists still cavort around the Fratelli – even if Meloni never tires of emphasizing that she has nothing to do with fascism. On her way towards Palazzo Chigi she will therefore continue to show her moderate side. Your statements on Ukraine were a first step and a signal to foreign countries to underline your reliability.

«I’m Giorgia and this is my story. Until now,” she writes in her book. One thing is certain: there is more to come.