From Berlusconi to Meloni, the transformation of Italian-style populism

2023-06-13 18:19:28

Giorgia Meloni settles a complex relationship with her government ally Silvio Berlusconi. Between recognition and ingratitude, between filiation and dissociation. At the news of the death of ” Knight “Monday, June 12, the head of government did everything to present herself as the heiress of the center-right who mourns her leader. “I will commit to pursuing the goals he fought so hard for. For him and for Italy. Goodbye, Silvia »she said, saluting a “beating”, “one of the most influential men in the history of the country”.

Succession

“The object of the game is to appropriate what is left of Forza Italia”, emphasizes Hervé Rayner, lecturer at the University of Lausanne, specialist in Italian politics. Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, former President of the European Parliament, would have the profile to take up the torch. He will face him Giorgia Meloniwhose assumed project is to reform the current electoral law favoring coalitions, in favor of a French-style presidential regime.

Once at the helm of the country, the boss of Fratelli d’Italia put all her energy into getting out of the Berlusconi “system” from which she came. Especially since the pro-Putin outings of his cumbersome partner. It was he who propelled her to minister for youth between 2008 and 2011, in a coalition again formed with the far right. His emancipation dates from his victory in the September 2022 elections. “I am not one of those who can be blackmailed”she launched after the election. “She made it clear to him that she owed him nothing”says Hervé Rayner.

Giorgia Meloni is not at her first volte-face vis-à-vis Silvio Berlusconi. In the 1990s, within the Italian Social Movement (MSI, neofascist), she campaigned against Bettino Craxi, Berlusconi’s mentor, before the latter offered her an alliance with his party. A pact made and undone many times. “If Giorgia Meloni learned one thing from Berlusconi, it was political realism, with this conviction that sometimes you have to go against your stated values ​​for political reasons”continues the researcher.

leader cult

Silvio Berlusconi will leave, whatever the case, a strong political imprint, as he pushed the personalization of power to its climax in Italy. Since then, there is no longer a party worthy of the name that can present itself without being associated with the name of its leader. Giorgia Meloni is no exception to the rule, even if she has built a different image, far from the escapades and football stadiums.

“His model, Catholic and conservative, would rather be that of the Polish right, believes Hervé Rayner. At the same time, she has not completely let go of the masculinist codes in which she has socialized. Giorgia Meloni calls herself an anti-feminist, and when she came to power, she refused the feminization of her functions. » The media empire left by Silvio Berlusconi seems, for its part, to have recognized a successor. Television channels and newspapers once under the control of the businessman are largely favorable to Giorgia Meloni.