Rome. The two “sisters of Italy,” as Giorgia and Arianna Meloni are referred to in Italian media, alluding to the name of the government party led by Giorgia, Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia), are currently on a family vacation together in a luxury masseria in Apulia. Also present are Meloni’s daughter Ginevra and her ex-partner Andrea Giambruno, as well as Arianna’s husband, Francesco Lollobrigida. Arianna is the influential political leader of Fratelli d’Italia, and her husband—thus the brother-in-law of the Prime Minister—is the Minister of Agriculture. This is how familiar politics can be in Italy.
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Over the southern Italian luxury resort, dark clouds have gathered in the last hot days of August. On Sunday, a two-page background report appeared in the government-friendly, extremely right-leaning newspaper “Il Giornale,” speaking of a malicious conspiracy against the two sisters of Italy: Leftist forces, hostile media, and a politicized judiciary have allegedly banded together under the secret leadership of centrist Senator and former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to overthrow the democratically elected right-wing government from almost two years ago. The vehicle for this coup would supposedly be criminal investigations against Arianna Meloni for unauthorized influence in the appointment of important and well-paid positions in state enterprises.
Possible Investigations Against the Sister: Meloni Sees Berlusconi Parallel
The 47-year-old Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promptly labeled the report about potential investigations against her two years older sister Arianna as “unfortunately very credible.” One is familiar with such methods from the times of Silvio Berlusconi. The former multiple-time Prime Minister, who passed away a year ago, was at times facing a dozen criminal proceedings and had always portrayed himself as a politically persecuted victim of the “red robes.” Close allies of Meloni added to this on Sunday: They referred to Renzi as the “provincial boss” of the mafia and the parliamentarians of his party Italia Viva as a “pack of dogs.”
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It is accurate that the report from “Giornale” highlights that Arianna Meloni has long been under criticism concerning some government job allocations. A member of Renzi’s party has accused her in a parliamentary inquiry last week of orchestrating the systematic appointment of all key positions at the public broadcaster RAI with government-friendly individuals, even though she is not even a member of the government. The leftist newspaper “La Repubblica,” on the other hand, has accused her of wanting to install a personal friend as the head of the state railway. Giorgia Meloni’s sister denies both: She has never participated in a meeting where personnel decisions were discussed.
The sisters of Italy seem to be suffering from paranoia or seeing ghosts
Matteo Renzi, Italy’s former Prime Minister and leader of the party Italia Viva
The central weakness of the “Giornale” report lies in the fact that until now, no public prosecutor has initiated investigations against Arianna Meloni. And even if this were to happen, the allegations would subsequently be clarified by independent courts. Thus, there is no trace of a conspiracy. “The sisters of Italy seem to be suffering from paranoia or seeing ghosts,” declared the alleged conspirator Renzi. “Our parliamentarians are just doing their job: They are the opposition. The opposition asks parliamentary questions, they control the government. That’s how democracy works.” But instead of answering the questions, the largest ruling party attacks the opposition with a “hate-filled, violent language” reminiscent of that used by the fascist gangs during the Mussolini era.
That Giorgia Meloni reacts to criticism of her sister with conspiracy theories fits a behavioral pattern that even well-meaning observers have long identified as her greatest political weakness: Meloni, who grew up as the child of a single mother alongside her sister Arianna in a working-class neighborhood in Rome and referred to herself as an “underdog” in her inaugural speech, just cannot escape her victim role and defiant-aggressive fighting mode, even though she has been at the head of the third-largest economy in Europe for almost two years. This increasingly complicates her life— not only in Brussels but also in her own country. The 29 percent vote share for the Fratelli d’Italia in the European elections was a major disappointment and simultaneously a warning sign.