In Italy, political processes, decision-making and accountability have been cast aside and substituted by an unelected all-powerful, left-leaning technocracy blessed by the bureaucrats of Brussels.
The last time the country had a prime minister elected by the will of the Italian electorate was in 2008, when Silvio Berlusconi received a mandate to govern. Since then, the prime minster has been chosen through a series of political deals, through which the Italian center-left Democratic Party has found itself in government for the better part of the last decade many times without even winning any elections.
After ten years of unaccountability and technocratic rule, Italy is certainly worse off. An analysis by Carlantonio Solimene, a journalist for the newspaper Il Tempo, shows that during 2011-2021, Italian GDP decreased 1.4%, while Debt-to-GDP ratio jumped from 119% to 150.8%, reaching a record of 2.8 billion as of April 2022. Fiscal pressure has gone from 41.3% to 43.5%, as families are impoverished, and natality has dropped to record lows.
It is in this economic and political context that Italy finds itself in the midst of an aggressive electoral campaign after the government, backed by an unnatural coalition and headed by Prime Minister and former European Central Bank Gov. Mario Draghi, fell.
The Italian people seem to be fed up with the unnatural order of things in their country. Thanks to Giorgia Meloni's coherence, honesty, dignity, fiery spirit, strength, charisma, and the conservative values she valiantly defends, her party has gone from 4% to 25% in the span of four years.
She is ready to become Italy's first female premier, as every poll indicates the center-right coalition is likely to obtain an overwhelming majority in both chambers of Parliament.
Certainly, she has not done it alone. From what I have seen and the people I talked to before writing this article, Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) has managed to gather not only a great team of experts, but reputable and respected politicians within Italian institutions at every level of government, as well as in the European Parliament where they are a part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group.
To top it off, it has one of the most energized, tolerant, patriotic, democratic bases, which never lost faith in their ideals despite continuous attacks.
With their help, Meloni has been fighting against the swamp for a decade. Many obstacles — from allies and adversaries — have tried to prevent her from creating a true conservative political force. Yet, she has proven to her country and the international community that coherence and the fierce protection of the values one believes in are rewarded politically eventually — a lesson for many politicians who put short-term interests in front of a long-term vision for their ideals and country.
Aware of the unpopularity of their identity politics, high taxes, further indebtedness, and massive spending that have brought Italy to a state of zombification, the left is resorting to the old tactic of resurrecting the ghost of fascism. The same politicians who accepted Meloni's invitations to her party's events when she was no threat to their unaccountable reign and treated her as a worthy political adversary, are calling her a fascist in every Italian and international left-wing media.
It was the center-left leader of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta, who mere months ago stated he "respected her, while [he] remained opposite of her ideas," concluding that she has "undoubted political abilities." Establishment politicians have sat with Meloni in panels and conventions. Yet, whenever the hegemony of the left is threatened, and its unpopular views exposed, the ghost of fascism comes to the rescue.
Meloni's conservative vision provides a chance to save not only her country but — just maybe — Europe as well. The leader of Fratelli d'Italia promises to shake things up by giving more power to the individual and the Italian family, protecting liberties, cutting taxation, encouraging investments and entrepreneurship, increasing employment, promoting meritocracy, strengthening the Made in Italy brand, ensuring law and order, and fighting for energy independence and a stronger role for Italy and Europe in the world.
At the same time, her party undertakes to defend traditions, culture, heritage and the environment. Far from being an extremist, she appears closer to what former President Ronald Reagan and Baroness Margaret Thatcher were advocating.
The energy crisis looming near, the geopolitical threats from Russia and China, the shifting balances of power, massive indebtedness, slow growth, wokeness and loss in competitiveness can only be confronted and reversed by the opposite of what caused them, as occurred successfully in the '80s in the U.S. and in the U.K.
Reagan, Thatcher and Pope John Paul II were fundamental in bringing down the Soviet Union and providing an alternative to the misery of socialism.
In the face of the Russian and Chinese aggressions and aspirations, to succeed jointly with the United States and the NATO alliance, Europe needs strong, principled leaders such as Meloni to thrive and provide a working conservative model now more than ever, as the continent continues to spiral toward economic abyss and geopolitical irrelevance.
Nikola Kedhi is a senior financial adviser and a contributor to several media outlets in the U.S. and Europe, including Fox News, The European Conservative, The American Conservative, The American Mind, The Federalist, CapX, the Mises Institute, il Giornale and others. Following several years in the consulting and media industries, he has gained considerable expertise in economic, financial and political matters. Mr. Kedhi's articles reflect his own views solely. Read Reports by Nikola Kedhi — More Here.
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