Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni said Thursday that fake reports were doing the rounds about who will be in the incoming centre-right government. She pledged the ministers will be quality appointments.
Meloni looks set to become Italy’s first woman premier after Sunday’s general election. However, there are rumours some top FdI members do not want Salvini to hold a high-ranking position. Others speculate the League will opt to not be part of the government, but just provide ‘external support’ to make it possible for the executive to pass legislation.
“I continue to read unreal reconstructions about the eventual ministers of a centre-right government,” Meloni said via Twitter.
“After the failure of [the outgoing Health Minister Roberto] Speranza and co. I assure you that we are working on a high-quality team that will not disappoint you. Don’t believe the lies that are going around”.
The tweet came amid reports of tension between Meloni and her alliance partner, League leader Matteo Salvini. They had their first public meeting since the election on Wednesday.
What of Salvini?
Salvini is under pressure after the League performed much worse than its rightist partner in the election. However, he is reportedly keen to get back to denying charity migrant rescue ships ports of call as Meloni’s interior minister; but his position has been weakened by the League’s relatively poor performance in the elections.
The League got around 9% of Sunday’s vote compared to 26% for FdI. The other main party in the coalition, Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (FI), got 8%. At the last Italian elections in 2018 FdI got around 4%, while the League got 17%. The league’s popularity surged, taking to 34% in the 2019 European elections, amid Salvini’s popular anti-migrant policies as interior.
On Facebook, meanwhile, Meloni reiterated that the election win was “not a final destination but a starting point.
“We are ready to give back a future, vision and greatness to Italy,” she said.
