Main centre-left group concedes defeat
Just before we finish our live coverage for the night, Reuters has reported that Italy’s main centre-left group, the Democratic Party, has conceded defeat in the election, saying it would be the largest opposition force in the next parliament.
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In the 2018 election, her party, the Brothers of Italy, won just 4.3% of the vote. Four years later, Giorgia Meloni is set to become the country’s first female PM and her party set to win 22.5-26.5% of the vote, making it the most dominant party in Italy.
The Italian left, represented by the Partito Democratico, accused by its critics of having lost touch with the working class and the poor, can shoulder some of the blame for this stunning turnaround. Italy’s economic and political instability did the rest.
Meloni will now be in charge of steering Italy through one of its most delicate periods, dealing with challenges from the energy crisis and high inflation to a possible recession and a winter wave of Covid 19.
Her coalition seems at this point to have the numbers to rule for the next five years. But there are clear challenges within her coalition: her bedfellows, Matteo Salvini (currently on trial for alleged migrant kidnapping), and the scandal-plagued former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi come with complications.
Certainly, a new political chapter has just begun, the era of the far-right. And if Meloni has her way, it won’t stop at Italy.
