Poker player – Giorgia Meloni

A woman prime minister

The right-wing coalition won the last elections held in the Republic of Italy. And this despite the fact that the elections were not completely clean and with a manipulative law on elections, where the lists and candidates were completely determined by the party leaders.

According to the voting results, the clear winner is “Brothers of Italy” by Giorgia Meloni. Despite campaigns for women’s rights such as “Me Too” and the struggle of left-wing parties for civil rights, it was the conservative coalition that nominated a woman for the post of prime minister for the first time in the history of Italy.

In the near future, Giorgia Meloni will have to present herself to the president of the republic, Sergio Mattarella, has to give her a “research mandate” to try to form a government. But it is not that simple.

Friend or foe?

The worst enemies of Giorgia Meloni, who is often accused of her post-fascist past and statements against the European Union, are not in the opposition camp. Her worst enemies are also her allies: Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini.

Silvio Berlusconi is an elderly billionaire who has lost his clarity of mind (he is 86 years old), still a lover of beautiful women (his current companion is 32 years old), who still believes that he has political significance.

He asked Georgia Meloni for ministries and seats for his party, although in fact his political weight is extremely limited. He even threatened not to vote for the confidence of Georgia Meloni and present his candidate for the post of the head of the executive power.

And there is the ultra-right League of Matteo Salvini.

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Salvini was an open and ardent admirer of Putin.

One of the most notable “friends of Russia” in Europe, the leader of the Italian right-wing populist party “League” Matteo Salvini, achieved the collapse of the country’s government, in which he himself was the deputy prime minister. Salvini expected to head the Cabinet of Ministers himself

                      Summary of the 25 September 2022 Chamber of Deputies election results

A party that received a bad result in the elections, and this weakened the position of the party leader in the political arena. However, it was at this moment that Giorgia Meloni made the gesture of an experienced poker player.

Before the formation of the government, the new chamber of deputies and the new senate must elect their two presidents. One president should go to the majority, and the other to the opposition.

Giorgia Meloni shuffled the cards

In the Senate, she managed to get Ignazio La Russa, a former fascist, elected. He is one of the founders of the “Brothers of Italy” party.

On the other hand, in the Chamber of Deputies only in order to divide a possible alliance between Salviо and Berlusconi, Georgia Meloni transferred the votes of her party to Lorenzo Fontana, the candidate of Salvinо League.

Lorenzo Fontana is a fundamentalist Catholic, but above all he is ultra-pro-Russian, who always advocates the lifting of sanctions against Russia, not support for Ukraine. Does this mean that Giorgia Meloni began to support Putin? – No.

Having offered such an important position to the League and promised them various ministries in the next executive body, she tied Matteo Salvini to her hand and foot. Now Salvini, of course, cannot threaten that he will not support her. This can lead to a big risk for him – he will disappear from political life.

However, the risk at the international level is that Russian propaganda and agents of influence (some of them extremely influential in Italy) may again have a great influence on the decisions of the Italian government in foreign policy.