When the far right took power in 2017 when it ended 20 years of left-wing rule in Ladispoli, a seaside town near Rome, its priorities included naming a square after Giorgio Almirante, who ministered under Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship and founder of the neofascist Italian Social Movement. (MSI).
Protests by anti-fascist groups failed to thwart the plan, and in 2019 the nameplate was unveiled in the same square in a ceremony that included a blessing from the church’s priest. Almirante has been described by mayor Alessandro Grando, who won a second term in June, as “the father of Italian right-wing socialism and a point of reference for many Italians”.
Now Ladispoli and many voters in Italy, Giorgia Meloni, founder of the Italian BrothersMSI’s descendants as reference points while preparing for the country early elections on September 25.
“Italians want radical, groundbreaking change and we need it to go through a democratic process,” said former leftist voter Carlo Morelli. Italy. “I think Meloni is the right person to make this change.”
Meloni, 45, may be about to fulfill her dream of becoming Italy’s first female prime minister. His political party has barely won 4 percent of the vote in the 2018 general election, making it Italy’s most popular party, rising even higher in polls released Friday. The collapse of the Mario Draghi government.
Brothers of Italy leads an alliance that includes Matteo Salvini‘s far-right League and Forza Italia, where Silvio Berlusconi is predicted to win by a clear majority.
The shocking fall of the Draghi government has taken many by surprise, in part because Italy has never campaigned in the summer. Italians flock to the beaches and politics is the last thing on their minds. But as the elections approach, it’s hard to think of anything else.
Morelli was among the beachgoers enjoying the sunset on Ladispoli’s coastline this weekend. “The left made a lot of mistakes and had no contact with the people,” he said. Right-wing parties “have concrete and comprehensive ideas”. “She is very charismatic, sincere and does not create illusions,” she said of Meloni.
Again on the beach, Maddalena Melappioni said she was not considering voting. “They make a lot of promises but never deliver,” she said. He still admires Meloni. “She has courage and her words are beautiful, but protecting them is something different.”
Born in Garbatella, Rome’s working-class district, Meloni was president of the youth wing of the National Alliance, a party that sprang from MSI. He served as youth minister in Berlusconi’s 2008-11 government before founding the Brothers of Italy.
The head of the European party of conservatives and reformists since September 2020 has sought to reshape the Brothers of Italy as a conservative champion of patriotism.
“This has helped move the party forward,” said Francesco Giubilei, the book’s author. Giorgio Meloni: The Conservatives’ Revolution. “It also helped that the Brotherhood of Italy was the only party outside of Draghi’s government.”
Meloni has strict views on mass immigration, calls abortion a “defeat” and opposes same-sex marriage and parenthood. In June, she traveled to Marbella to give a controversial speech at a rally she organized. His Spanish far-right counterpart Vox. “Yes to the natural family! Well, LGBT lobbies!” yell.
Sitting on the beach of Ladispoli with a group of friends, Giulio Faillaci was startled when he remembered the content of the speech, a clip of which was widely shared on the Internet. “It was terrible and now we are in a terrible situation,” he said. A determined leftist, he plans to vote for the centre-left Democratic party, which is slightly behind the Brothers of Italy in the polls but has yet to form an alliance. “Disgusting. We face a lot of problems and they got rid of Draghi, one of the most trusted names in Europe.”
A lively political debate ensues with his friends. “No one votes for a common goal anymore – they only think of their own interests,” said Francesco Rossi. Barbara Clarioni, a former constituency of the populists Five Star Movement“There is no real investment in very important things like research, education and health,” said the party that set the wheels in motion for the overthrow of Draghi’s government. He is not sure whether to vote, who to vote for. “In some ways I prefer the ignorant to the educated who lie.”
