Italy woke up on 26 September 2022 to a government led by the far right for the first time since World War II. The centre-right coalition won an absolute majority in Parliament. Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party took 26 percent of the vote. That made it the largest single party in the country.
The election was early. It came after the fall of Mario Draghi’s government. President Sergio Mattarella dissolved Parliament on 21 July. A parliamentary impasse forced the move. Italians also voted in regional elections in Sicily that same day.
Voter turnout hit a record low. That fact matters. It suggests a public tired of revolving-door governments and shifting coalitions. Italy has had 68 governments since 1946. Meloni’s rise is not a sudden shock. It is the product of years of frustration.
The centre-right coalition included the League and Forza Italia. Both parties bled support. Each polled 8 percent. That is a steep drop for both. The League, led by Matteo Salvini, once rode a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi’s party, has been in decline for a decade. Meloni’s party absorbed much of that lost support. She positioned herself as the stable, disciplined alternative to Salvini’s erratic style and Berlusconi’s legal troubles.
The centre-left coalition made slight gains compared to 2018. The Democratic Party took 19 percent. The Greens and Left Alliance passed the 3 percent threshold. But that was not enough to stop the right. The centre-left remains fragmented. More Europe and Civic Commitment failed to make a real impact. Italy’s multi-party system rewards coalitions that hold together. The left did not hold together well enough.
Meloni is now set to become prime minister. That was the pre-election agreement among coalition parties. She will lead a government with an absolute majority in Parliament. That gives her room to push through legislation without relying on coalition partners for every vote. It also means she can resist pressure from Salvini and Berlusconi if she chooses.
The implications are broad. Italy is a founding member of the European Union. It is the eurozone’s third-largest economy. Meloni has toned down her earlier Eurosceptic rhetoric during the campaign. But her party’s roots are in the post-fascist Italian Social Movement. The European establishment will watch closely. Migration policy, fiscal spending, and relations with Brussels all hang in the balance.
Domestically, the low turnout raises questions about democratic engagement. Nearly one in three eligible voters stayed home. That is not a mandate from a unified country. It is a victory in a half-empty arena. Meloni’s challenge will be to govern for a population that did not all show up to choose her.
The League and Forza Italia are weakened but still in government. That creates internal tension. Salvini may try to pull the coalition further right on immigration. Berlusconi may push for business-friendly policies. Meloni must balance these forces while keeping her own base happy.
Italy’s political weather has changed. The centre-right now holds the levers. The old guard of the League and Forza Italia lost ground. A new leader from a party once on the fringe sits at the top. The country heads into an uncertain winter.
