Italy gets its first female PM as Giorgia Meloni claims victory; check out general election 2022 results here

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy party won the Italian election on Sunday, defeating Mario Draghi by a huge margin. By doing so, Giorgia has become Italy’s first female prime minister, and that too, of a right-wing government.

Giorgia forged a pre-poll alliance with Forza Italia and the League, two parties helmed by Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini, respectively.

According to media reports, the alliance claimed over 43% votes, which would translate to 114 seats in the Senate. A political party needs 104 seats to claim a majority in the Italian Senate.

The 45-year-old Giorgia successfully worked her way up from grassroots politics and successfully led the opposition against Mario Draghi. Draghi was accused of running a technocratic government, though he managed to stabilize the Italian economy following the traumatic shock of the pandemic. However, Giorgia's far-right political campaign proved to be acceptable among the masses, which helped her claim victory.

While her run to become the prime minister may be triumphant, Giorgia lacks considerable experience in administration. Therefore, taking the reins of the country at a time when it’s still in recovery mode poses many challenges to the new Giorgia-led government in Italy.

The biggest challenge, however, is to mitigate the looming energy crisis in the country triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The growing expenditure due to price hikes has compelled the European Central Bank to push the yield on Italy’s 10-year bonds to over 4.3%, which was under 1% in December last year.

In her first speech after winning the election, Giorgia said that the victory was a starting point and that they would show their worth in the coming days. After the election results are officially declared, Italian President Sergio Mattarella will consult leaders of all political parties and invite Giorgi Meloni to form the new government. The 200 senators and 400 lawmakers are scheduled to meet in the Italian parliament on October 13.

FAQs
• How many seats did Giorgia win?

Giorgia Meloni won 114 seats in the Senate, while the majority mark is 104 seats.

• Who are the other parties in the Alliance?
The alliance includes Forza Italia and the League, two parties helmed by Silvio Berlusconi and Matteo Salvini.