The woman leading Italy’s far-right
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 27 September 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
Conservative Giorgia Meloni is Italy's presumed next prime minister. Who is she? And what do the results of Italy’s historic election mean for the strength of the far-right movement in Europe?
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This week Italian voters sided with the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia, also known as the Brothers of Italy. The election results could also mean the country gets its first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
On today’s “Post Reports,” Rome bureau chief Chico Harlan dives into Meloni’s history, how she rose to prominence in Italian politics and her party’s proposals — including stricter limits on migration. And though the Brothers of Italy may not stay in control for long, Harlan says that in Europe the “signs to suggest that momentum has returned for nationalist parties” are piling up.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The first pro-Jezioni is the one that can be said that by the Italians, |
| 0:08.0 | in these political elections, is a clear indication. |
| 0:12.0 | The clear indication is for a government of the central country, |
| 0:16.0 | the Guida Fratelli of Italy. |
| 0:20.0 | This week, a far-right party is taking power in Italy. |
| 0:24.0 | And after Sunday's historic election, |
| 0:27.0 | Italians could have their first female prime minister, Georgia Malone. |
| 0:32.0 | She is the charismatic, socially conservative leader of the Fratelli de Italia, |
| 0:37.0 | the brothers of Italy. |
| 0:53.0 | Malone has drawn comparisons to people like former President Donald Trump, |
| 0:56.0 | and the brothers of Italy has been compared to the party of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. |
| 1:01.0 | But there's a real chance that Malone and her party might not stick around. |
| 1:06.0 | That's what we heard from Chico Harlan, the Rome bureau chief for the post. |
| 1:10.0 | There has not been a Trump-like figure who has kept loyalties for very long. |
| 1:15.0 | And even some of the Malone voters we talked to yesterday weren't convinced |
| 1:19.0 | that they would still be behind her in a year. |
| 1:21.0 | So there's a degree of skepticism about her and about everybody that I think needs to be understood as underpinning everything. |
| 1:30.0 | But even as people across Europe don't expect Malone to be a permanent political fixture, |
| 1:35.0 | they are wondering, what does it mean that Italians backed the far-right? |
| 1:39.0 | And what message is that sending to nationalist parties across the continent? |
| 1:44.0 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Postreports. |
| 1:48.0 | I'm Martine Powers. It's Tuesday, September 27th. |
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