Georgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini, and Silvio Berlusconi, the leaders of Italy’s center-right coalition, have called for immediate elections after Prime Minister Mario Draghi—the former European Central Bank (ECB) president—tendered his resignation after the Five Star Movement (M5S), a key partner in the ‘technocratic’ government, withdrew its support last Thursday in a confidence vote.
Subsequently, to avert a government collapse that could trigger early elections this fall, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, the politician who appointed Draghi to lead Italy’s post-pandemic recovery, rejected the prime minister’s resignation, asking him instead to address parliament this coming Wednesday to give a clearer picture of the political situation at hand, Reuters reports.
Others like Meloni, Salvini, and Berlusconi, however, aren’t so keen to see Draghi’s globalist-led governing coalition remain in power. Amid the political crisis, Giorgia Meloni—the president of Italy’s most popular party Fratelli d’Italia (Fdl), who also heads the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) political grouping in the EU parliament—was the first to demand that elections take place as soon as possible.
“After Draghi’s resignation, this legislature is over. We will fight to give back to the Italian people what citizens of all other democracies have: the freedom to choose who to be represented by,” Meloni wrote on Twitter.
Con le #dimissioni di #Draghi per @FratellidItalia questa legislatura è finita. Daremo battaglia affinché si restituisca al popolo italiano quello che i cittadini di tutte le altre democrazie hanno: la libertà di scegliere da chi farsi rappresentare. #ElezioniSubito pic.twitter.com/GuGki6bseu
— Giorgia Meloniن (@GiorgiaMeloni) July 14, 2022
In an earlier tweet, the Fratelli d’Italia (Fdl) chief listed a slew of emergency issues presently gripping the country, many of which were supposed to be resolved by the alleged ‘expertise’ of the so-called ‘technocratic government’ led by Mario Draghi.
“War, pandemic inflation, growing poverty, high bills, the rising cost of raw materials, risks on energy supply, food crisis. And the government ‘of the best’ is immobile, grappling with the place games of this or that party. Enough, have mercy. Elections immediately!”
Guerra, pandemia, inflazione, povertà crescente, caro bollette, aumento costo materie prime, rischi su approvvigionamento energetico, crisi alimentare. E il governo "dei migliori" è immobile, alle prese coi giochi di palazzo di questo o quel partito.
— Giorgia Meloni
Basta, pietà. #ElezioniSubito
Fellow center-right leaders Senator Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi, who lead the parties Lega and Forza Italia, respectfully, have also called voiced their opinions on the matter, making it clear that they too are in favor of immediate elections.
“The pact of trust has been broken… We are ready in any case to submit to the judgment of the [Italian] citizens even in the very short term,” Salvini and Berlusconi said in a joint statement that followed a meeting between the two politicians.
As things presently stand—and if elections were held today—nearly half of Italy’s electorate would cast their ballots for one of Italy’s three center-right coalition parties, with Meloni’s FdI leading the pack with 23.2% of the vote, Savini’s Lega in second place at 14.5%, and Berlusconi’s Forza Italia at 10.3%.
With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that Italy’s liberal-globalist politicians and their respective parties are scrambling to make sure an election does not take place.
