Giorgia Meloni is now Italy’s first female prime minister, after winning elections on Sunday September 25.

The country's national election was triggered by party infighting that saw the collapse of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government in July.

Voters headed to the polls amid a number of new regulations, with voting hours also contained to one day rather than two.

Addressing the media and supporters in the early hours of Monday morning, September 26, Meloni said it was “a night of pride for many and a night of redemption.”

“It’s a victory I want to dedicate to everyone who is no longer with us and wanted this night,” she said. [b]“Starting tomorrow we have to show our value … Italians chose us, and we will not betray it, as we never have,”[/b]she said.

Preliminary results put an alliance of far-right parties, led by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, on track to win at least 44% of the vote, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.

With 63% of votes counted, the ultra-conservative Brothers of Italy party had won at least 26%, with coalition partners, the League, led by Matteo Salvini, taking around 9% and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia scoring over 8%. Final results are expected later Monday, but it’s expected to take weeks for a new government to be formed.

Meloni entered Italy’s crowded political scene in 2006 and co-founded the Brothers of Italy in 2012, a party whose agenda is rooted in Euroskepticism and anti-immigration policies.

A 45-year-old mother from Rome, Meloni is deeply conservative, openly anti-LBGT, and has threatened to place same sex unions, which were legalized in Italy in 2016, under review. She has also called abortion a “tragedy,” raising fears for the future of women’s rights in the country.

ITALY'S RIGHT WING, LED BY MELONI, WINS ELECTION, EXIT POLLS SAY

ROME, Sept 25 (Reuters) - A right-wing alliance led by Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party was on course for a clear majority in the next parliament, giving the country its most right-wing government since World War Two.

Meloni, as leader of the largest coalition party, was also likely to become Italy's first woman prime minister.

Meloni, 45, plays down her party's post-fascist roots and portrays it as a mainstream conservative group. She has pledged to support Western policy on Ukraine and not take undue risks with the third largest economy in the euro zone.

However, the outcome is likely to ring alarm bells in European capitals and on financial markets, given the desire to preserve unity in confronting Russia and concerns over Italy's daunting debt mountain.

An exit poll for state broadcaster RAI said the bloc of conservative parties, that also includes Matteo Salvini's League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, won between 41% and 45%, enough to guarantee control of both houses of parliament.

"Centre-right clearly ahead both in the lower house and the Senate! It'll be a long night but even now I want to say thanks," Salvini said on Twitter.

Italy's electoral law favours groups that manage to create pre-ballot pacts, giving them an outsized number of seats by comparison with their vote tally.

RAI said the right-wing alliance would win between 227 and 257 of the 400 seats in the lower house of parliament, and 111-131 of the 200 Senate seats.

Full results are expected by early Monday.

RECORD LOW TURNOUT
The result caps a remarkable rise for Meloni, whose party won only 4% of the vote in the last national election in 2018, but this time around was forecast to emerge as Italy's largest group on around 22-26%.

But it was not a ringing endorsement, with provisional data pointing to turnout of just 64.1% against 74% four years ago -- a record low number in a country that has historically enjoyed a high level of voter participation.

Although heavy storms in the south appeared to have deterred many from voting there, participation fell across a swathe of northern and central cities, where the weather was calmer.

Italy has a history of political instability and the next prime minister will lead the country's 68th government since 1946 and face a host of problems, notably soaring energy costs and growing economic headwinds.

Initial market reaction is likely to be muted given that opinion polls had forecast the result accurately.

"I don't expect a big impact although it's not necessarily the case that Italian assets will do particularly well tomorrow (Monday) given how the market is starting to treat Europe and countries with worrisome public finances and exposure to the crisis and Ukraine," said Giuseppe Sersale, fund manager and strategist at Anthilia in Milan.

Italy's first autumn national election in over a century was triggered by party infighting that brought down Prime Minister Mario Draghi's broad national unity government in July.

The new, slimmed-down parliament will not meet until Oct. 13, at which point the head of state will summon party leaders and decide on the shape of the new government.

Reference:
Italian politics, eternally unstable since the rivalries of the plebeians and patricians in ancient Roman antiquity.
That country should have been on top of the European tree if not for everlasting political bickering akin to Africa.
Hope she can make one calendar year in Rome.

Kasssandra:
Bad news for those wishing to japa to Italy.

Tough on immigration candidate wins.

nony43:
She is full of Joy. When will Nigeria have first female President? Too many greedy men in our corridors of power.

Raj10:
A big headache for EU a big win for Russia

God1000:
Good, nigerian women should follow suit

HolyMan12:
Italian pussy on the beat u no well

Chatflick:
People are taking back their country. Nigeria is next.

A 45-year-old mother from Rome, Meloni is deeply conservative, openly anti-LBGT, and has threatened to place same sex unions, which were legalized in Italy in 2016, under review. She has also called abortion a “tragedy,” raising fears for the future of women’s rights in the country.