A far-right nationalist looks likely to become Italy’s first female prime minister
Giorgia Meloni, a far-right nationalist accused of spreading white supremacist ideas, is widely expected to become Italy’s first female prime minister Sunday.
A short speech defending the role of the family has become Giorgia Meloni’s calling card at campaign rallies. “I am Giorgia. I am a woman. I am a mother. I am Italian. I am Christian. You can’t take this away from me,” she said.
The woman widely expected to become Italy’s first female prime minister in Sunday’s election is far from typical, however: A far-right nationalist accused by political rivals and experts of spreading white supremacist ideas, who advocates naval blockades to stop unauthorized migration from Africa, Meloni is also a committed J.R.R. Tolkien fan and has embraced the internet memes and music remixes of her famously fiery speeches.
Far-right nationalist Giorgia Meloni set to become Italian prime ministerSept. 26, 202203:22Her victory, as the leader of a right-wing coalition, would make Italy the latest European country after Sweden to see a far-right party win power, months after Marine Le Pen staged a strong challenge to President Emmanual Macron in France.
Meloni leads the Brothers of Italy Party (Fratelli d’Italia, or FdI), a populist party with roots in Italy’s post-war fascist movement. Fdl is predicted to get 25% of the vote on Sunday, six times more than it received in the last election, in 2018, and enough to give it a clear majority in both houses of Parliament.
From left, The League's Matteo Salvini, Forza Italia's Silvio Berlusconi, and Brothers of Italy's Giorgia Meloni attend the final rally of the center-right coalition in Rome on Thursday.Alessandra Tarantino / APIf elected, Meloni, 45, a mother of one, would head a coalition government made up of Matteo Salvini’s Lega Party (League) and Forza Italia (Forward Italy), led by 85-year-old media baron and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is making another return to politics.
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