State broadcaster RAI reported that Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, in alliance with two right-wing parties, looked set to receive up to 45 percent of the vote in both houses of parliament. The closest contender appears to be former Democratic Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s center-left alliance, which according to exit polls has garnered up to 29.5 percent. RAI said the exit poll had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. Meloni, 45, would be well placed to become Italy’s first far-right prime minister since the end of World War II and the country’s first woman to hold the office. Her party, with neo-fascist roots, will need to form a coalition with its main allies, anti-immigration League leader Matteo Salvini and conservative former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, to secure a solid majority in Parliament. Meloni’s meteoric rise in the European Union’s third-largest economy comes at a critical time, with much of the continent reeling under soaring energy bills, the impact of the war in Ukraine and the West’s determination to stand united against Russian aggression. The same exit poll showed Meloni’s party appearing to win between 22-26 percent of the vote, while Letta’s center-left Democrats appeared to be winning between 17-21 percent. Ballots from voters living abroad are being prepared for the final count in Bologna, Italy on Sunday. (Michele Nucci/LaPresse/The Associated Press) The counting of paper ballots began immediately after the polls closed and is expected to last until Monday morning. It could be weeks before Italy assembles and swears in a new coalition government. More than a third of the 50.9 million eligible voters boycotted the vote. Final turnout was 64 percent, according to the interior ministry. This is well below the previous record low turnout of 73 percent in the last election in 2018. Meloni made no comment immediately after the exit poll was announced on RAI state television. But earlier, he tweeted to Italian voters: “Today you can help write history.”
Right alliance
Meloni’s party was forged from the legacy of a neo-fascist party soon formed by those nostalgic for the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Italy’s complex electoral law rewards campaign alliances. Meloni boosted her on-the-ballot entry by joining campaign forces with two longtime admirers of Russian President Vladimir Putin — Salvini and Berlusconi. She herself is a staunch supporter of supplying arms to Ukraine to defend itself against attacks launched by Russia. Meloni is seen with Lega leader Matteo Salvini, left, and Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi, center, during a joint rally of Italy’s right-wing parties in Rome on Thursday. (Yara Nardi/Reuters) Democrats entered the vote at a sharp disadvantage, having failed to secure a similar broad alliance with left-wing populists and centrists. Italy has had three coalition governments since the last election — each led by someone who did not run — and that appeared to have alienated many voters, pollsters said. “I hope we see honest people, and that is very difficult these days,” Adriana Gerdo said at a polling station in Rome. People wait to vote at a polling station in Rome on Sunday. (Gregorio Borgia/The Associated Press) What kind of government Italy might get has been closely watched in Europe, given Meloni’s criticism of “Brussels bureaucrats” and her ties to other right-wing leaders. He recently defended Hungary’s Viktor Orbán after the European Commission proposed suspending billions of euros in funding to Hungary over concerns about democratic backsliding and possible mismanagement of European Union money. Sunday’s election was held six months early after Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s pandemic unity government collapsed in late July. But the three populist parties in his coalition are boycotting a confidence vote linked to an energy relief measure. Their leaders, Salvini, Berlusconi and 5-Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte, a former prime minister whose party is the largest in the outgoing parliament, have seen Meloni’s popularity rise while theirs slide. A voter with a dog is seen inside a polling station at a polling station in Milan on Sunday. (Massimo Pinca/Reuters) Meloni kept her brothers in Italy in opposition, refusing to join Draghi’s unity government or Conte’s two coalitions that ruled after the 2018 vote. Italian businesses and households are struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills, which in some cases are 10 times higher than last year. Draghi remains in office until a new government is sworn in.
