Italy's Far-Right Giorgia Meloni wins General Election, Vows to Govern For All
Giorgia Meloni, the far-right leader of Italy, has been declared victorious in Italy's election and is set to be the country's first female prime minister.
Ms Meloni, remarking after the election, however, promised that her Brothers of Italy party would "govern for everyone" and would not break voters' trust.
"Italians have sent a clear message in favour of a right-wing government led by Brothers of Italy," she told reporters in Rome, holding up a sign saying "Thank you, Italy".
She was projected to win roughly 26 per cent of the vote, putting her well ahead of her chief rival, Enrico Letta, of the centre-left. On Monday, Mr Letta assured reporters that his party would give "strong and intransigent opposition" to the far-right government.
Ms Meloni is poised to establish Italy's most right-wing government since WWII.
With about 44 per cent of the vote, Ms Meloni's right-wing alliance, which includes Matteo Salvini's far-right League and former PM Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia, would assume control of both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
In the previous election four years ago, Brothers of Italy received just over 4 per cent of the vote. This time around, however, they received a boost from not being a part of the national unity government that ultimately fell apart in July.
Her allies, the League and Forza Italia did poorly in the election, but her party's stunning victory overshadowed their failure.
Their main advantage, however, was that in districts where they fielded a single candidate, their opponents on the left and centre were split and ran multiple candidates.
Giorgia Meloni seems most likely to be nominated as prime minister, but President Sergio Mattarella would have to officially select her, an event unlikely to happen before late October.
She has tried to improve her public image by highlighting her support for Ukraine and toning down anti-EU remarks. However, she still heads a party with its origins in a post-war movement that sprang out of dictator Benito Mussolini's fascists.
Recall that earlier this year, in a boisterous speech to Spain's far-right Vox party; she laid out her plan: "Yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology, no to Islamist violence, yes to secure borders, no to mass migration, no to big international finance, no to the bureaucrats of Brussels!"
The winning parties appear to have profited from the one-third reduction in the size of the two chambers that this election represents.
YouTrend predicted that the right-wing alliance might win as many as 238 of the 400 seats in the House of Representatives and 112 of the 200 seats in the Senate.
According to projections, the centre-left will hold 78 House and 40 Senate seats.