Italy is the latest European country to vote for a far-right government.
In a historic first Giorgia Meloni, the head of the Brothers of Italy party is set to become the first-ever woman Prime Minister of Italy.
This will also be the country’s first far-right-led government since World War II.
Born on 15 January 1977, Giorgia Meloni grew up in a working-class neighbourhood of Rome.
In 2012 she co-founded her party called the Brothers of Italy.
The party included members from the Italian Social Movement, which was created by the supporters of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
From 2% in the 2013 elections, the Brothers of Italy gained a quick margin of 26% by 2022.
Giorgia Meloni’s political slogan was “God, family and homeland”.
It was seen as an aggressive valorisation of Christian identity, family values, and Italian ultra-nationalism that could be hostile to other identities.
For this year’s election, she even campaigned on a platform that was openly anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQI.
She proposes to amend Italy’s Constitution to introduce a directly elected President in place of the current Parliamentary democratic system.
The Hindu analyzed 18 nationalist parties across Europe.
Data shows that the far-right parties have secured a considerable vote share in many countries and have increased their voter base in some of them.
While Meloni’s party was launched as a vehicle opposed to European Union integration, she has toned down the anti-EU rhetoric.
But the Brothers of Italy have shown that they intend to put Italy first and regional issues on the back burner.
This indicates that the upcoming government will be more Italy-centric than Euro-centric.
