This is the political program of the Italian far-right party with which Giorgia Meloni aspires to win the presidency
Analyzing the political program of Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy, many Italian analysts make a preamble. They separate the electoral proposals that could become a reality from what is unfeasible or, at least, very difficult that, in practice, can be carried out. It is because, as in many democracies, “Italy is a country in which electoral promises are rarely fully fulfilled,” as veteran Emma Bonino, former European commissioner and today leader of the More Europe party, said this week. Hence the importance of analyzing the main points of the far-right political program.
1. Ethnonationalism
In the electoral campaign, Meloni has insisted that a key element of an eventual government led by her will be to stop the demographic decline. The matter is also listed as First point of his political program, in which he advocates “full application of Law 194 & rdquor ;, the Italian legislation on abortion. According to Meloni, it is necessary help women “alone and with economic difficulties” to not interrupt their pregnancies in Italy, a country already with a very high rate of conscientious objector gynecologists (more than 6%). In addition, he has also proposed financial aid to familiesand other measures to promote reconciliation.
Meloni has opposed this position to the accusation that he makes to the center-left of wanting to solve the demographic problem with “an invasion & rdquor; of migrants. That is why the Brothers of Italy have come to propose a naval blockade to prevent arrivals by sea, and that the granting of nationality be rejected to foreign minors born or raised in Italy and who have studied in the country. A measure, this one, that is unlikely to go ahead if the far-right takes power, while, on the abortion front, experts do not expect a cancellation of the current law but rather an increase in the difficulties for women to abort.
2. A liberal-conservative economy
On this subject, the economic program of the Brothers of Italy is not far from the liberal-conservative model, with some posture ‘interventionist’ and protectionist. Even so, Italy’s path to obtaining European recovery funds (around 200,000 million euros) makes significant changes in this section unlikely. In fact, like Marine Le Pen in France, Meloni no longer wants to leave the European Union or the Eurozone, and supports a balanced State Budget. Although he does have criticism of the current gas price negotiation system on the Amsterdam stock exchange, “where speculation occurs & rdquor ;. Part of this reasoning, which points to reduce the inflation, is the proposal to put a ceiling on the price of gas.
Another is the case of industrial policies, where experts do believe that conflicts with other countries in the European bloc could arise. This is because Meloni advocates defend the ‘made in Italy’ and the primacy of Italy’s national interests. Conflicts that, in the short term, could also be reflected in claims with great media impact. In addition, the far-right has announced measures to reduce tax pressure on companies to stop deindustrialization and relocations. “We will remove taxes from companies that hire new workers & rdquor ;, she has repeated on more than one occasion. Likewise, Meloni’s proposal also contains a series of virtuous promises to help young and old, although it is not clear how he intends to finance these proposals.
3. The pandemic health model, under discussion
This is one of the darkest points of Meloni’s program, the one he has talked about the least. So much so that in her political program the matter barely occupies a paragraph that, in addition, begins with the generic proposal to “overcome the paralysis caused by the pandemic & rdquor ;. Even so, at the close of his electoral campaign, Meloni has criticized the health model carried out to deal with Covid by the current Italian Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza. “Enough with the Speranza model! & rdquor ;, the far-right has said. “Italy will no longer be a experiment for the Chinese model (to face) the Covid & rdquor ;, he added.
4. Fossil and nuclear energy as a solution
Although the Italians have rejected the nuclear energy with various referendums, the implementation of this energy production system is one of the heavier proposals to resolve the current crisis and its aftermath for the industry. In addition to this, Meloni has also changed his mind regarding the exploitation of methane gas fields in the Italian Adriatic that now, as Croatia already does, wants to exploit. “Following the ideology of Greta Thunberg will lead us to lose thousands of companies and millions of jobs across Europe,” Meloni said, appearing at a Vox rally in Marbella in June, calling the European Green Deal “fundamentalism.” climate”.
De facto, Meloni has been criticized for a view close to the late conservative thinker Roger Scruton, who made a connection between ecology and religion, and believed that the current solutions reached by the international community are not the adequate response to the problem. Even so, Meloni no longer openly agrees with positions deniers of climate change, something that is also due to the fact that the country is subject to increasing episodes of extreme weather, which has increased the sensitivity of Italians on this issue.
5. Loyalty to the Western bloc and NATO
Meloni, always an openly Atlanticist figure, has repeated on numerous occasions that Italy’s membership in NATO is not up for discussion. However, here too contradictions Y potentials discrepancies not only with the allies of his coalition, but also with the international allies of the extreme right. In fact, over the years, Meloni has cultivated a friendship with the wing of the US Republican Party closest to Donald Trump, the president who questioned the survival of the Atlantic Alliance. In addition, Meloni has also assured that he believes that Ukraine has the right to defend itself, in sharp contrast to its coalition partners. An example this week was the words of Silvio Berlusconi, the leader of Forza Italia, who said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was pushed to invade Ukraine. “The troops had to enter, in a week to arrive in kyiv, replace the Zelensky government with a government of decent people and in a week to return. Instead, they found an unexpected resistance, which was fortified with weapons of all kinds from the West & rdquor ;, said the old politician, provoking numerous controversies.