The Italians elected a new parliament on Sunday. Over 50 million eligible voters were called to the polls. But more than a third of those entitled to vote did not vote.
Silvio Berlusconi can laugh again. After nine years, the soon to be 86-year-old has managed to return to the Italian Parliament.
The latest developments:
- Silvio Berlusconi has managed to return to Parliament. Nine years after being expelled from Parliament because of a legally binding conviction as a tax fraudster, the former head of government confidently won the direct mandate for the Senate in the city of Monza. Berlusconi stood up for the right-wing alliance, which, alongside his conservative Forza Italia, also includes the radical right-wing Fratelli d’Italia and the right-wing populist Lega. The current foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, missed the leap into parliament. Because his Impegno Civico party remained well below the three percent hurdle nationwide, he cannot enter the Chamber of Deputies via a list.
- The head of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia, Giorgia Meloni, sees the right-wing camp under the leadership of her party as the government’s mandate. Based on the first projections, it can be said that the Italians sent a clear signal to the ballot boxes, Meloni said early Monday morning (September 26) in Rome. She spoke of a “night of pride” and a “night of redemption”. She said to her followers that one was not at the place of arrival, but at the place of departure. According to projections, the Fratelli Giorgia Melonis received 26 percent of the votes for the House of Representatives and increased massively compared to the result of 2018.
- The Italian Social Democrats have admitted defeat in the parliamentary elections and want to go into opposition. Debora Serracchiani, the leader of the Partito Democratico (PD) parliamentary group in the House of Representatives, said on Monday night (September 26). With a centre-left alliance, the previous governing party was clearly left behind by the right-wing bloc under Giorgia Meloni and her right-wing Fratelli d’Italia. “This is a sad day for our country,” said Serracchiani. According to projections, the PD received 19.1 percent of the votes for the House of Representatives.
- According to projections, politicians from the German AfD, the right-wing national Rassemblement National from France and the Polish PiS have already congratulated Giorgia Meloni on the election victory. “We’re celebrating with Italy!” Wrote AfD member of parliament Beatrix von Storch on Twitter late Sunday evening. Her party colleague Malte Kaufmann tweeted: “A good day for Italy – a good day for Europe.” Referring to the recent elections in Sweden, in which the right was also successful, von Storch wrote: “Sweden in the north, Italy in the south: left-wing governments are something of the past.” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki congratulated Meloni on Twitter.
- Following Italy’s general election, leading MEPs have warned of a government led by right-wing politician Giorgia Meloni. “Giorgia Meloni will be a prime minister whose political role models are Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump. The election victory of the alliance of right-centre parties in Italy is therefore worrying, »said Katharina Barley (SPD), Vice-President of the EU Parliament, the «Welt» (September 26). The spokesman for the German Greens in the EU Parliament, Rasmus Andresen, said that the “unprecedented Italian slide to the right” would have massive effects on Europe and the European Union.
Projections have confirmed the clear victory of the right-wing camp around the far-right Fratelli d’Italia in the parliamentary elections in Italy. Giorgia Melonis Fratelli d’Italia came to around 26 percent in the elections for the House of Representatives and was able to increase their share of the vote sixfold compared to 2018. The Social Democrats (PD) currently have 19.1 percent of the vote.
The coalition partners of the Fratelli d’Italia slipped significantly in the voter favor: According to the projections, the right-wing populist Lega came to around 9 percent (2018: 17.7 percent), the conservative Forza Italia to around 8 percent (2018: 14 percent). However, the data published so far unanimously indicate that the center-right alliance clearly has the largest share of votes in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Meloni at an election rally in Milan. The motto of her party is: “Ready to get Italy back on its feet”.
With a constitutional reform at the end of 2020, the number of seats in both chambers was significantly reduced in order to make parliament leaner and, above all, more cost-effective. The number of deputies was reduced from 630 to 400, and that of senators from 315 to 200. As a result, an unusually large number of incumbent parliamentarians will lose their seats in this election. A total of over 5,500 candidates applied for the 600 seats in Parliament.
Italy has repeatedly changed its electoral system in recent decades. Rosatellum has been in effect since 2017: 37.5 percent of the seats are allocated after majority voting in single constituencies. The remainder is distributed proportionally to the parties, subject to a 3 percent threshold.
Larger coalitions are strongly favored in this electoral system. The right-wing camp was able to benefit from this, as it is running as a unit in the single constituencies with joint candidates. The centre-left camp, on the other hand, is split into several separate parties and electoral alliances.
Parliamentary elections in September, so soon after the long political summer break, have not been held in Italy since the founding of the republic. Regular should not have been elected until next year. But in July, the broad-based coalition government of technocrat Mario Draghi was overthrown, and President Sergio Mattarella was forced to call snap elections.
After the last election in 2018, there were no clear majorities in parliament. Under Giuseppe Conte, two governments with very different signs were formed, first a right-wing populist coalition between the Cinque Stelle and the Lega, then a left-wing coalition between the Cinque Stelle and the Partito Democratico. Both experiments lasted just over a year. There was a risk of a serious political crisis amid the pandemic, which hit Italy particularly hard. That is why President Sergio Mattarella commissioned the technocrat Mario Draghi to form a government in February 2021. His coalition government was supported by almost all parties in parliament, with only the Fratelli d’Italia remaining in opposition.
The former head of the European Central Bank has brought political stability and economic recovery to the country over the past 18 months. He was very popular until the very end, but coalition partners craving to make a name for themselves, above all the ailing Cinque-Stelle boss Conte and Lega man Salvini, brought down the grand coalition in July. Giorgia Meloni, of all people, benefited from the manoeuvre, and was the only one who had not supported Draghi.
The many questionable power struggles and “unnatural” coalitions since 2018 have left many Italians disillusioned. Voter turnout Sunday was the lowest in Republican history. Only 64 percent of those entitled to vote went to the polls this time.
Voter turnout in Italy has traditionally been very high, but has steadily decreased in recent years. In 2006, the proportion of non-voters was 16.4 percent, 2008 19.5 percent, 2013 24.8 percent and 2018 27.1 percent. Now that share has risen to a record 36 percent.
To make matters worse, voting by post is not possible in Italy and the vote must be cast in the municipality in which you are registered. This makes it difficult for students or employees who work far away from their official place of residence to vote. According to estimates, around five million Italians currently live outside the municipality in which they are registered.
Cooperation: Luzi Bernet, Rome; Raffaela Angstmann