A coalition of three far-right parties wins the parliamentary elections in Italy. The leader of the “Brothers of Italy” Georgia Maloney is expected to become prime minister, the first woman to hold the position.
This was reported by the Italian public broadcaster “Rai".
A poll conducted by “Rai” gave the right-wing coalition 41% to 45% of the vote against 25.5% to 29.5% for the left bloc. The populist "5 Star Movement" received 13.5-17.5% of the vote. Initially, three right-wing parties will receive 227-257 out of 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 111-131 seats out of 200 in the Senate.
Georgia Maloneyʼs “Brothers of Italy” party is set to win the largest share of the vote in a coalition that includes far-right “League” led by Matteo Salvini and “Forza Italia” led by Silvio Berlusconi.
The decision on who will become the next leader of Italy is made by President Sergio Mattarella. If the exit polls are correct, the president will hand Maloney the mandate to form a government, which could be formed by the end of October. It will be the most right-wing government since World War II. Speaking after the vote, Maloney said that her party “Brothers of Italy” would rule for all and not betray the people.
According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, the turnout was extremely low at 63.82% at the time the polls closed, which is almost 10 points less than in 2018. Voter turnout was particularly low in the southern regions.
The BBC writes that Georgia Maloney has worked hard to soften her "right-wing image", emphasizing support for Ukraine and toning down anti-European rhetoric. However, this year Georgia Maloney stated her priorities before the far-right Spanish party “Vox”: "Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no gender ideology." She also called for border security, opposed mass migration and "Brussels bureaucrats".
- On July 21, 2022, Italian President Sergio Mattarella signed a decree on the dissolution of parliament. Before that, he accepted the resignation (for the second time) of Prime Minister Mario Draghi. He was asked to stay on as head of the interim government.
- On July 14, Draghi resigned after the 5-Star Movement (the largest party in the countryʼs then-coalition government) withdrew its support for a package designed to tackle Italyʼs cost-of-living crisis. After that, Draghi said that he will not lead a government that does not include the 5-Star Movement.