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Giorgia Meloni, leader of Italy’s right-wing party, the Brothers of Italy, appeared on track to win Sunday’s Italian elections, according to exit polls.
Rye state broadcaster said Meloni’s Italian brothers, who are allied with two right-wing parties, appeared to be seeking up to 45% of the vote in both houses of parliament. Enrico Letta clearly won his less than one third of the votes. Rai said the margin of error in exit polls is his 3.5%.
Four hours before polls closed, voter turnout was a record low of 73%, 7% lower than the same period in 2018. Tallying of paper ballots will begin as soon as polls close at 11:00 p.m., and predictions based on partial results will be made early on Monday.
“Today you can help write history,” Meloni tweeted on Sunday.
If she wins, Meloni will be well positioned to become Italy’s first post-World War II far-right prime minister and the country’s first female prime minister. Her party, which has neo-fascist roots, needs to secure a parliamentary majority in a coalition with her main allies, Anti-Immigration Alliance leader Matteo Salvini and conservative former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. .
European nations shift right as economic woes dominate continent
Italy’s complex electoral law rewards campaign coalitions, leaving the Democrats at a disadvantage because they have failed to secure similarly broad alliances with left-wing populists and centrists.
However, it could take weeks to form a viable ruling coalition in Italy. Nearly 51 million Italians were eligible to vote on Sunday. Despite Europe’s many crises, many voters feel alienated from politics, he told pollsters. is headed by a person who is not running for public office.
Meloni’s rapid rise in Italy comes at a critical time as Italian businesses and households are struggling to pay their soaring gas and electricity bills in the aftermath of European energy policies and the war in Ukraine. I was. In some cases, energy costs are 10 times what he was last year.
As Meloni criticized the “Brussels bureaucracy” and strengthened ties with other right-wing leaders, Europe was watching what kind of government the eurozone’s third-largest economy would have. .
She recently defended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban after the European Commission recommended suspending billions of euros in funding to Hungary.
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Sunday’s elections came six months early after Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s pandemic unity government collapsed in late July.
Polls show former European Central Bank President Draghi is very popular. However, his three populist parties in his coalition boycotted a confidence vote related to the energy bailout. Their leaders Salvini, Berlusconi and Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Five Star Movement, were former prime ministers whose party was the largest in the previous parliament, and Meloni’s popularity has led to their support I saw it go down.
Meloni kept the Italian Brotherhood party in opposition, refusing to join Draghi’s unity government or Conte’s two coalitions that ruled after the 2018 vote.
But Meloni has kept his distance from Salvini and Berlusconi and has been adamant in his support for Ukraine, including sending weapons to help Kyiv defend itself against Russia.
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Before Russia’s invasion, Salvini and Berlusconi gushed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Salvini, who enjoys strong voter support from business owners, has expressed concern that the impact of Western sanctions on Russia could hit Italy’s economy too hard.
Mr Draghi will remain as interim president until a new government is formed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.