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Following the parliamentary elections on 25 September, Giorgia Meloni is likely to become Italy's first female head of government. A long overdue step forward in terms of equal rights. But the 45-year-old politician from a modest background is not only breaking through the career glass ceiling - she is also breaking a political taboo: around the 100th anniversary of the March on Rome and Benito Mussolini's seizure of power, the leader of an extreme right-wing party wants to form \u201eher\u201c government of the united right. Even as a professional politician, Meloni called the \u201eDuce\u201c \u201ethe best statesman Italy has ever had\u201c. Her coalition partners Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi also see anti-fascist commemorations and holidays as \u201eremnants of the communist left that divide Italy\u201c.<\/p>\n
Despite many differences, Meloni, Salvini and Berlusconi want to push through a reactionary social policy, with a mixture of neoliberal flat tax cuts and a national sovereigntist-protectionist state in economic policy. In terms of democratic policy, they promise plebiscitary-populist reforms in the direction of an illiberal presidential republic. However, the new government's foreign policy is bound to be tested. Salvini is a Putin supporter and opponent of the West's Ukraine policy. Berlusconi sees Putin's war of aggression as nothing more than a \u201emistake\u201c on the part of his \u201eclose friend\u201c. Meloni, on the other hand, is in favour of the sanctions and support policies of NATO and the EU. Considering that the 5-Star Party is also against the anti-Putin sanctions, Italy's wavering could lead to a weakening of the entire EU.<\/p>\n
Before his fall, Mario Draghi and his stable and pro-European government had been supported by all major parties except Meloni for longer than most observers had thought possible. He remains the most popular political figure in Italy. What then explains this astonishing turn to the right in the country?<\/p>\n