The first woman at the head of the Italian government, Giorgia Meloni celebrates on Friday September 4 a record longevity in this position since the end of the Second World War, strengthening her “credibility” to launch her electoral campaign for the 2027 legislative elections.
“1,413 days of work, of choices, of challenges. A record which is not only a question of figures, but which testifies to the stability of a government which has been able to give Italy a vision and restore credibility and authority on the international scene”, wrote on social networks Arianna Meloni, sister of Giorgia and head of the political secretariat of Fratelli d’Italia (FDI, far right), the party of the head of government.
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Giorgia Meloni, 49, thus surpasses Silvio Berlusconi in the duration of a single government – but with four governments the “cavaliere” will have governed almost ten years in total. For the occasion, thousands of supporters are expected on Friday in Bari, in Puglia (south-east of Italy).
Fratelli d’Italia has prepared a brochure of around thirty pages listing all the successes of this government in just under four years. More than a million additional people working, unemployment at a minimum of 5.8% in July, a reduction in personal taxes of 21 billion euros, an 80% drop in arrivals in Italy of illegal immigrants, lists, among others, FDI.
Giorgia Meloni, without long-term vision?
This stability so praised by FDI is however criticized by experts. “Stability is an instrument, not an objective, the objective is growth and we have not seen it,” Veronica De Santis, professor of economics at Rome’s Luiss University, told the foreign press in Rome on Thursday. The expert criticizes the lack of a long-term economic policy vision, while the country’s gross domestic product is expected to grow by 0.6% in 2026, according to government forecasts.
The ultra-conservative majority in power, bringing together FDI, Matteo Salvini’s Anti-Migrant League and the conservative Forza Italia (FI) party, has adopted around 300 laws and decree-laws, often by a vote of confidence, according to the AGI agency. A majority of these laws concern security, in the broad sense of the term, targeting immigrants, smugglers, minor criminals, participants in rave parties or even demonstrators blocking a road to protest against layoffs, subjects dear to its right-wing electorate.
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The main Italian dailies, of all political persuasions, took stock of his government. The left-wing La Repubblica recognizes that the executive has succeeded in stabilizing the public accounts and reducing the spread, the difference between German and Italian interest rates, from 233 points to less than 80.
“The realism of Giorgia Meloni (…) an alibi for immobility”
La Stampa and Corriere della Sera, on the other hand, underline his unwavering support for Ukraine, despite the reluctance of his Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, opposed to sending military aid to kyiv.
However, Giorgia Meloni “will have to say how she plans to use these last months before the vote, it is a question that interests a lot”, declared Thursday Flavia Perina, columnist of the daily La Stampa, to the foreign press in Rome, while all observers are betting on elections in April 2027.
In the same context, Alessandra Sardoni, political journalist for La7 television, criticized “the realism of Giorgia Meloni (…) which has become an alibi for immobility”. “The government has given central importance to communication and communication has often replaced action,” she added.
“The problem is what governments are doing. Have wages increased? No. Gasoline is more expensive, job insecurity has increased, people are no longer retiring, the health system is working less well,” commented Maurizio Landini, boss of the main trade union confederation (CGIL, left).
With AFP
