Italian Election Results: Coalition Members Agree to Salvini Becoming Next Italian PM
Italian election winners Forza Italia and Fratelli d'Italia announced they will support the candidacy of eurosceptic Lega leader Matteo Salvini after a resounding victory at the polls.
La mia prima parola: GRAZIE! pic.twitter.com/DRXiWVAHQp
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) March 4, 2018
Fratelli d'Italia leader Giorgia Meloni said her party was committed to seeing eurosceptic Matteo Salvini receive the opportunity to form the next Italian Government.
The centre-right coalition led by controversial former PM Silvio Berlusconi win 37 percent of the votes at the Italian election 2018 held on March 4.
Ms Meloni confirmed she will ask Italian President Sergio Mattarella to give Mr Salvini the mandate, saying: "The first thing we need to do when we meet with President Mattarella is to tell him that our personal point of view is that the forming the government is up to the centre-right coalition. According to a rule we agreed inside the coalition, the role of PM must go to Matteo Salvini. Fratelli d'Italia will respect that commitment."
With the new Italian electoral law, if no party or coalition reaches a majority, it will be up to President Mattarella to decide which party or coalition will be given the chance to form a government post-election.
Dubbed “the Italian Farage” for his anti-Europeanism, Mr Salvini has vowed to make “extreme” reforms to European laws if elected, has threatened the EU with the possibility of an "Italexit" and pledged in his party’s manifesto to “defend Italian borders from the invasion” of illegal immigrants.
Focusing his electoral campaign on fighting illegal immigration and protecting Italy from the EU’s “unfair” financial laws, Mr Salvini has often criticised both Eurocrats’ calls for greater integration and the euro, which he blasted was “a German currency”.
Ms Meloni called on all members of the coalition to stand by Mr Salvini in order to secure the right to form the next government of Italy.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster La7, she continued: "I heard from Salvini and I congratulated him for the objectively great results. What matters at the moment is that all three members of the coalition share the same plans. If that were not to happen we would miss the chance to form a government."
Forza Italia also came out in support of the eurosceptic leader after a private meeting between Mr Berlusconi and Mr Salvini.
Writing on Twitter, Forza Italia said: "This afternoon President Berlusconi met Matteo Salvini. Congratulating him he has confirmed that thanks to this result centre-right powers will strengthen the coalition which will need to obtain a mandate to govern Italy to restart the country."
Speaking to La Repubblica, Mr Salvini joined in the calls of his coalition partners, saying it was "up to the Lega" to form the next Italian government.
He said: "The Government is up to us: Lega won from within the coalition and will remain as leader of the centre-right. Within the centre-right everyone is happy. We have a coalition that won and can govern."
Italy has long been considered a threat to European stability because of the insecurity of its banks, on which the country’s political disharmony has a substantially bad impact.
