Right-wing and populist parties rode concerns over immigration and the economy to big gains in Italy’s parliamentary elections Sunday, dealing a major blow to the European Union establishment.
The Euroskeptic, anti-establishment Five Star Movement was the biggest single winner with about a third of the vote, though it will not have enough seats to form a government. A separate coalition comprising the far-right League and center-right Forza Italia is set to win most seats in the lower house of parliament, with a combined 37 percent of the vote.
In contrast, the ruling center-left coalition, composed of the Democratic Party and the liberal More Europe, mustered just 23 percent.
“It’s a fantastic victory which fills us with pride,” League leader Matter Salvini said, according to the BBC. He added that Italian voters had “made a step forward to be free from the cages and ties that are bringing back hunger and insecurity in Europe.”
Although Italy now faces a hung parliament with weeks of political uncertainty ahead, Sunday’s vote made one thing clear: Italian voters are increasingly skeptical of EU control over the country’s immigration and economic policies. It also showed that, far from subsiding, Euroskeptic populism is gaining strength across the EU zone.
Among the surging right-of-center parties, Five Star has gained the most from Italy’s populist moment. Founded in 2009 as a response to cronyism in Italian politics, it has won support in poorer regions of southern Italy, building on popular anger over institutional corruption, economic hardship and, most importantly, immigration.
Italy is one of the main entry points into Europe for migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. More than 600,000 migrants have traveled from North Africa to Italian coastal cities since 2013, swamping local communities and stoking resentment against the EU’s asylum policies.
Both Five Star and the emerging center-right coalition brokered by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are also proposing anti-EU economic policies to go with immigration reforms. They have promised to fight Brussels-mandated austerity policies and look for alternatives to the remaining in the common currency.
Going forward, the raucous group of populists and right-wing parties must work out a power-sharing deal to form a government. One potential partnership is between Five Star and the League, which together would control more than the 316 seats needed for a majority in parliament.
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