Party elections were held in Italy on September 25th local time, and the leader of the Italian Brotherhood Party, Georgia Meloni, voted at a polling station at Rome . Xinhua News Agency reporter Jinma Mengni/photo
In the Italian parliamentary elections held on September 25, the Italian brothers led by far-right politician Georgia Meloni won about 26% of the vote, laying the foundation for the party to occupy a majority in the parliament; the center-right alliance, including the party, won a total of 43.8% of the votes. " Washington Post " pointed out that this election may produce two of the best Italian political arenas—the Italian government after World War II and the first female prime minister in Italian history.
The victory of Meloni's election has made the global right-wing movement happy. Bannon, former US President Trump 's former "military advisor", did not hide his appreciation for Meloni. He publicly stated, "Like Thatcher, Meloni will fight until victory." At the same time, supporters of European integration were frightened, and they exclaimed: "Female Mussolini is here!" More people expressed various concerns about Meloni's victory.
In fact, Europe doesn't seem to have to be so panicked. Before Meloni, French presidential candidate Mary Le Pen, former Prime Minister Beata Schido, German MP Petri, Norwegian Finance Minister Sif Jensen... The far-right female forces have long risen in European politics.
Cui Hongjian, director of the European Institute of China Institute of International Studies, said in an interview with China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that the reason for the rise of far-right parties is that the establishment is unable to cope with the ongoing European crisis; the relationship between the far-right and mainstream European politics has just begun.
European far-right forces rise in crisis
"Support families that conform to natural laws, oppose sexual minorities; support fertility culture, oppose (abortion) death hell; oppose Islamic violence, and support safer borders; oppose large-scale immigration, and support (immigration) to work for us; oppose large-scale international financial activities..." Meloni announced her political propositions in fluent Spanish when he delivered a speech to VOX in Spain in June this year.
's tough and conservative attitude forced people to place Meloni at the far right of the European political genealogy. In her early years, she publicly expressed her admiration for the Italian fascist dictator Mussolini. In her autobiography "I Am Georgia", she mentioned that she joined the Italian Socialist Party (MSI) established by Mussolini supporters at the age of 15. Because of her active performance, Fabio Lampelli, the second-in-commander of MSI and an important position in Congress, quickly noticed her and entrusted her with a heavy use.
In the mid-1990s, MSI was incorporated into the National Union (AN), and later merged with the political party established by former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi . In 2008, Meloni, who was only 31 years old, was appointed as the Youth Minister by the Berlusconi government, becoming the youngest minister ever in the Italian Republic. In 2012, she and several members of the National Union set up the "Italian Brothers Party", which is a three-color flame symbolizing the "eternal fire" on Mussolini's tomb.
The rise of brotherhood is astonishingly fast. In the 2018 general election, the party received only 4.3% of the vote; in this year's general election, the party ranked first among all parties with nearly 26%, nearly 11% higher than the second-ranked Five-Star Movement Party. This also makes the center-right party coalition ahead of other parties and alliances with about 44% of the votes.
The rise of far-right forces is not a phenomenon unique to Italy. In 2017, the German "Choice Party" won more than 12% of the votes in the federal election, becoming Germany's third largest political party. In April this year, although the French National League lost the general election, it won the most votes in history. In September this year, the Swedish Democratic Party became the second largest party in one fell swoop in parliamentary elections. What these parties have in common is: the far right.
Cui Hongjian told China Youth Daily and China Youth Network reporters that since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2009, Europe has been in a continuous crisis and governments need to come up with effective solutions. However, mainstream political parties have not yet adapted to the challenges brought by the new situation, and their political plans cannot respond to the demands of the people.Like other European countries, the Italian people are increasingly dissatisfied with mainstream political parties. Even if the government proposes a solution, due to the poor stability of the multi-party coalition government, its policies will be difficult to implement for a long time. This provides an opportunity for the rise and expansion of far-right political forces.
Far-right female politicians appear on the European power stage
Meloni's victory has made people realize again that in recent years, as the trend of European countries "turning to the right" has become increasingly obvious, more and more right-wing and far-right female politicians have begun to appear on the power stage or even peak.
In traditional concepts, just like there is a difference between men and women, there is also a natural difference between "female leadership" and "male leadership". Women are often considered to be more gentle, delicate, empathetic, and good at communication. However, the emergence of more and more far-right female politicians is subverting people's perception of female leaders - the word "far-right" itself has a strong and aggressive meaning.
, the leader of the French National League, which failed in the presidential election in April this year, is still tough in its political propositions. She claimed that multiculturalism has failed, called for a suspension of legal immigration, advocated that France withdraw from Schengen District and restore border control. She advocates "French national priority", opposes free trade and globalization, and advocates trade protectionism . There are countless controversies caused by racist and anti-Semitist rhetoric.
In Germany, as the former chairman of the Party, Froc Petri led the party to become the first right-wing populist party to enter parliament after the end of World War II under the banner of nationalism, anti-refugee, and anti-European integration. In a poll, more than a quarter of respondents supported the choice of the party and its claims.
In Poland, the right-wing populist party " Law and PKP " became the largest party in the 2015 parliamentary elections and was qualified to form an independent cabinet. Beata Shido, vice chairman of the Law and PKP who was born in the House of Miners, also became the female prime minister and ranked among Forbes' list of the 100 most powerful women in the world.
In Norway, since taking office as Chancellor of the Finance Department in 2013, Sif Jensen has become the longest-serving Chancellor of the country since World War II. As the chairman of the Norwegian Progressive Party, she regards former British Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher as her idol. She had warned that Norway was in a "silent process of Islamization" and also bluntly supported Israel, calling for the move of the Norwegian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Cui Hongjian believes that the background of the rise of European far-right female politicians is first and foremost the collective rise of female political forces. Europe's belief in equality between men and women has approached the level of religious belief, and more and more women are involved in political life like men. Secondly, the combination of "women" and "far right" has formed a strong role contrast, leaving a deeper impression on the people. Third, the advantages that female leaders do not have to be played under a weak appearance. For example, this time the Italian right can quickly form an alliance, and Meloni's communication role should be indispensable.
"Angry Women" voted for "Angry Women"
Looking at the high-ranking European women, it is not difficult to find that most of them come from the right-wing camp. For example, the current European Commission president von der Leyen comes from the right-wing German political party Christian Democratic League. Mrs. Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, also from the right-wing camp, was awarded the title of " Iron Lady HTML " for her conservative and stubbornness and refusal to compromise. She was also regarded as a "spiritual leader" by a group of far-right female politicians later.
The left wing usually pays more attention to gender equality than the right wing—none of all the political claims made by Meloney is related to women’s equality or gender empowerment.So, why do female leaders in high positions often come from the right? Or why is it so difficult to give birth to a high-level female leader from the left?
In Cui Hongjian's view, the right wing, especially the extreme right wing, often has one common feature, which is that it emphasizes returning to the so-called traditional values, which contains more responsibilities to the family, care for women in traditional concepts, etc. In addition, "conservative" also means "stability" and can convey more sense of security to the people. Merkel is called "auntie" by the Germans. This nickname actually contains the sense of reliability brought by traditional family concepts.
The rise of right-wing female forces is also related to the "rightist tendency" of female voters. Taking Italy as an example, in 2013, only 37.5% of the supporters of the fraternal party were women; by 2018, more than half of the supporters of the fraternal party were women.
"In the past 20 years, the rise of right-wing populism in Europe has been dominated by men, i.e., 'angry white men' voted for 'angry white men'. But now the situation is changing. In Europe, more and more women have appeared in the far-right demonstration marches." The British " Guardian " pointed out that the level of education of voters is the key factor in determining whether they vote for the far-right. Although most voters who support the far-right are from the lower middle class and are full of resentment and powerlessness towards society, a large number of women who work in low-income industries also feel "abandoned by society".
Catherine is a cashier at a cheap supermarket in the suburbs of Paris. She voted Le Pen in this year's French election. Catherine told the Guardian, "The authorities' elites have no idea what ordinary people's lives are like. They have completely cut off contact with the outside world. I can't make a living with such a low salary. I have three children, and I will overdraw my bank card before the end of each month. I can only live on credit cards, and I can hardly afford to pay for car gas. I have never been as close to power as Le Pen, so why not give her a chance?"
Meloni faces multiple challenges after forming a cabinet
In Italy, overthrowing the regime is much easier than maintaining it. According to statistics, Italy has changed 11 governments in the past 20 years, and the average wealth of people's families has almost not increased. The rapid change of government has intensified the public's distrust of mainstream political parties. Especially in the past three years, in order to avoid early elections, Italy has formed a new coalition government through behind-the-scenes transactions twice, but due to the different ideology of each party, it quickly became arguing after joining forces. The last Draghi government formed a cross-party alliance under such a background, but it fell apart a year later due to the withdrawal of the political party.
analysts pointed out that once they are appointed as Italian Prime Minister and form a cabinet, Meloni will face multiple tests at home and abroad, such as inflation , energy crisis , relations with EU , differences with within the alliance against Russia, etc.
Cui Hongjian believes that the problems facing Italy are currently relatively complex, with long-term contradictions and short-term contradictions intertwined. On the one hand, we need to make up our minds to reform, and on the other hand, we must resolve the current crisis, so there is not much room for Meloni to operate. Before taking office, Meloni could get more public support by putting forward clear political propositions. But once she becomes prime minister, she must face specific problems and inevitably makes policy adjustments that contradict her previous claims, and falls into a dilemma.
In addition, Italy's biggest problem now is the fragmentation of political parties and the foundation of party alliances is very fragile. Although Meloni's centre-right coalition is not as partisan as the previous government, it is difficult to maintain a cross-party alliance as long as a major party withdraws support in a certain policy area. How to maintain the partnership in the ruling alliance and find a balance between reality and slogan is a problem that Meloni must face. Before
run, Meloni rarely talked about China in public. But since February this year, she has frequently made tough remarks about China, such as overturning the Belt and Road Agreement signed by China and Italy, adopting restrictions on Chinese companies, and so on.Cui Hongjian believes that Meloni's statements have a political show, because in current Europe, provoking topics about China has become a "routine operation" for some politicians to attract attention, and Meloni cannot avoid the vulgarity.
Cui Hongjian pointed out that whether Meloni will transform criticism of China into specific policies will depend on whether she can achieve the transformation from critic to builder. Before winning the election, she was an opponent of the establishment; after she came to power, she had to listen to the views of various departments on China and weigh the pros and cons of developing relations between China and Italy. "If she doesn't handle the Sino-Italy relationship well, it is impossible to deal with other more complex issues well." Cui Hongjian said, "There is a distance between speech to policies and actions. We should still give her a period of observation to see if she can adapt to changes in roles." After the results of the Italian parliament election were released, Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the healthy and stable development of China-Italy relations is in the common interests of both sides. I hope that the new Italian government will continue to adhere to a positive and pragmatic policy toward China, work with China, and continue to deepen bilateral cooperation and cultural exchanges in various fields, so as to benefit the two countries and the people of both countries.
This newspaper, Beijing, September 28,
China Youth Daily·China Youth Network reporter Hu Wenli Source: China Youth Daily
Source: China Youth Daily
