With the right and far-right making gains in Europe, less than half the Italian electorate turned out to vote. Voters cannot complain about the resurgence of the right-wing, if they do not counteract by voting for the opposition.
The turnout for the European elections in Italy was 49.69%, according to definitive data released by the interior ministry early on Monday.
It means that, for the first time in an EU election, less than half of the Italian electorate exercised their right to vote. The turnout in Italy in the 2019 European election was 54.5%.
Meloni’s party wins most Italian votes
PM Giorgia Meloni said the European elections had consolidated the solidity of her government. Her Brothers of Italy (FdI) party came first in Italy with almost 29% of the vote.
That is even better than the 26% FdI won in the 2022 general election that thrust her to power.
“It’s an even more beautiful night than two years ago,” Meloni said in an address early on Monday.
“Italy can presents itself at the G7 and in Europe with the strongest government of all,” said Meloni.
The Italian PM will chair the 2024 G7 summit in Puglia this week with Italy holding the duty presidency of the group of most advanced economies.
“It is a source of satisfaction and a great responsibility too.
“In our case, they saw us coming, but they still couldn’t stop us,” she added.
Within the ruling centre-right alliance, the projections put Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani’s Forza Italia (FI) and Noi Moderati on 9.2%, ahead of Transport Minister Matteo Salvini’s League on 8.5%.
It was the first nationwide vote since the death last year of FI’s founder, ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi.
How did the opposition fare?
The opposition centre-left Democratic Party (PD), also led by a woman, Elly Schlein, did well too, coming second with 24.5%, according to the projections.
“It’s an extraordinary result for us,” Schlein said at the PD’s Rome headquarters.
“We are the party that has grown most since the general election,” she added, stressing that the gap with Premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy party (FdI), which got almost 29%, had narrowed.
“We will continue to be stubbornly in favour of (opposition) unity.”
At the EU level, Schlein said support for the Party of European Socialists (PES) had “held up” and stressed that “no majority (in the European Parliament) is possible without the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group”.
The other main opposition party, the 5-Star Movement (M5S), came a long way back in third with 10.5%. The Green-Left Alliance (AVS) was on 6.8%, well above the threshold of 4% needed to get MEPs elected.
