Meloni twist: Draghi's fall from power may open door to the far right

If last Wednesday marked an undignified end for Mario Draghi's government, one person who enjoyed the spectacle from the sidelines was Giorgia Meloni. The leader of Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist origins, is in pole position to become prime minister after elections this year.

- ANGELA GIUFFRIDA

As the shenanigans played out in the senate, culminating with three parties in Draghi's coalition boycotting a confidence vote and him resigning, Meloni took to the stage in Piazza Vittorio, a square in Rome where Brothers of Italy, the only party to stay out of Draghi's government, have set up a shop for July, to express her satisfaction.

"A year ago they told us we were heading for the sewer and were unrealistic," she told supporters. "We've had three different governments, three different majorities [since the March 2018 election]. Have any worked? No. History has proved us right."

Meloni has reason to celebrate. Brothers of Italy have gone from barely scraping 4% of the vote in 2018 to becoming the biggest party in opinion polls, leading a group including Matteo Salvini's far-right League and Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia that usually runs together in elections. A study of recent polls showed that, in the event of an early ballot, the far-right-led alliance could easily win a majority.