The Wall_Spring 2023_Issue 9

Lorenza Rees, (she/her), S10, investigates whether it’s fair to view Italy’s new government as ‘fascist’.

Meloni first became involved in politics aged fifteen and since then she has slowly been making her way up to the top. Her rise to power was facilitated by Silvio Berlusconi, who became Prime minister for the first time in 1994, in coalition with the refashioned National Alliance and the Northern League party. In 2006 he appointed Meloni the youngest ever vice -president of the Chamber of Deputies and two years later she was appointedYouth Minister. When Berlusconi’s party was dissolved, Meloni then focused on founding the aforementioned ‘Brothers of Italy’. Her new party branded itself as the ‘Conservative champion of patriotism’. To gain votes and popularity she utilised student politics and voters from younger age groups. She put up posters around college campuses and directed campaigns at young people, emphasising a concern for their future.All the while, Meloni was cleverly creating a name for herself amongst Italy’s citizens, taking the opportunity to talk and engage with the general public.

to whether she is fascist, neo-fascist or neither. Sky News recently declared her to be by no means a fascist but acknowledged that she does have strong right-wing beliefs.The new PM is indeed socially very conservative. She is a woman who values the model of the classic and stereotypical Italian family unit, publicly being against gay couples having the right to adopt children.There is also fear of her altering abortion laws in Italy. Not only this, but she has strong views on immigration, as she has said she hopes to send migrants back to wherever they have come from.Additionally, she is also against children who are born from foreign parents having access to Italian citizenship and wishes to reduce access to welfare benefits for foreigners. However, it’s not only Meloni’s right-wing stance that has gained much attention; in addition, some of the decisions and statements she has made have not gone unnoticed. For a start, her cabinet contains only six women, among them Eugenia Maria Roccella, who has become ‘Minister of Family, Birth Rates (a shrinking population is a huge concern in Italy) and Equal Opportunities’. Roccella has extremely conservative and strongly Catholic views, and has referred to same-sex marriage the “end of humanity”. One can understand why the Roccella appointment has become mired in controversy. Not that Meloni herself is immune to controversy; in fact, comments expressing admiration for Mussolini’s leadership qualities that she made when she was a teenager still haunt her to this day. So, what does this new right-wing leadership mean for Italy? On the whole, opinions expressed online and in the media reflect concern, if not outright worry.The future of Italy is uncertain and only by keeping ourselves updated and educated on this topic can we continue to understand and see what a pivotal time this is for this country. Hopefully, you now feel more connected to what is going on in Italy and have some sense of why it matters – or should matter - to all of us.

Despite being half Italian, before I started researching this article, I knew absolutely nothing about Italian politics. And to be perfectly honest, until recently I hadn’t felt a need to. However, lately I’ve been seeing more news articles, hearing more on the radio and feeling a greater urge to educate myself. Hopefully this article will provide you with a crash course on what is going on in Italian politics now. A name you will be hearing a lot is Georgia Meloni.This is because she is the first female prime minister of Italy, having been elected in the recent general election. Italy became a democratic republic afterWW2 ended in 1945, with the royal family being abolished and the constitution re-written. Mussolini – who may well be the only Italian ‘politician’ you’ve ever heard of - had previously been overthrown as the fascist dictator of Italy in 1943 and it seemed that fascism was pretty much dead in the water in Italy. However, Meloni is a member of the neo-fascist ‘Brothers of Italy’ party, which has gained a huge amount of popularity in recent years.

Meloni’s career has been at times overshadowed by the debate as

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Artwork: EmiliaWilliams, S8

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