The Right-Wing Italian Government Has Set an Endurance Record

    Italian Prime Miniser Giorgia Meloni became the longest-serving premier in the history of the Italian Republic, which was formed in 1946, having served four years.  No Italian government has completed a five-year term.  But the significance of the record is exaggerated by the professional media, as is the usual reporting about Italy’s “instability” because hers is the 68th Government in its 80-year history.  Although Italy, which has always had a multi-party elective parliamentary system, has had many “governments,” which mean executives (i.e. administrations), it was stable in the sense that every government from 1946 to 1982 was led by the Christian Democratic Party, with only the coalitions with other parties changing.  The party returned to power later in the 1980s.  Often during their tenure as Prime Ministers, the same person has continued in office, with only a cabinet reshuffle.  Thus, some Premiers have served longer than Meloni consecutively, and others even longer when adding together their separate stints in office. 

    Meloni has tried to prove her party has rejected its neo-fascist past, but some party member or another regularly undermines her efforts.  She has led Italy’s most right-wing government in its republican history, with a relatively stable coalition between her right-wing party, the far-right Trumpist anti-migrant and pro-Russian League Party, and the center-right Forza Italia (Go Italy) party, which holds pro-European and American views and is conservative in the mold of Thatcher and Reagan. The opposition, which ranges from the center to the far left, is relatively divided.  Neither Meloni's coalition, nor the main center-left bloc of parties receive popular majority support, just as neither won a majority of votes or seats in the parliamentary elections, as her coalition benefited from a bonus awarded to the leading coalition.  Meloni’s government has enacted fiscal and other reforms required by the European Union to receive funds, reduced spending, kept taxes down, increased employment, cracked down on petty crimes, advocated for reforms of the EU, and backed Ukraine.  But without making any major reforms, Italy’s economic growth has been slow.  Meloni has violated human rights with her anti-migrant policies while Italy continues to suffer population loss.  She tried to parlay her similar views to Donald Trump and their personal friendship to benefit Italian-American relations, but her effort has ended in failure because Trump demands complete agreement on every issue.  

    Despite differences within her coalition, and an upstart neo-fascist party rising in the polls that is even more anti-migrant and openly pro-Russian, Meloni will probably continue to serve until her term ends while the opposition is unable to unite to gain majority support, which is more the reason for her stability than her mixed record.  Her government is proposing to amend the election law to favor her coalition in the parliamentary elections next year, which signals a lack of popularity and confidence in their chances.