So who is Giorgia Meloni, who is likely to be the country's first female prime minister?
Note on September 26, 2022: Yesterday's general elections in Italy were won by the far-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) led by Giorgia Meloni and the right-wing alliance of which it is a part. The right alliance has achieved the absolute majority to form a government in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
In the country, which entered the election atmosphere, the main opposition far-right Brothers of Italy Party (FdI), led by Giorgia Meloni, ranks first in opinion polls. Meloni, 45, a journalist before entering politics, has led the Fdl, which has been described as a neo-fascist since 2014. It is known that Meloni, who has been the chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party since September 2020, has a desire to lead his country.
Born in 1977, who was first elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 2006, Giorgia Meloni founded the Brothers of Italy Party in 2012, along with his politician friends Ignazio La Russa and Guido Crosetto, on the far-right, neo-fascist, nationalist-conservative line.
Meloni became party chairman in 2014, but was not elected to the European Parliament that year.
A mother of one, Meloni is known for her stance against same-sex marriage and same-sex couple adoption.
She refused to take part in the "national unity" government formed last year by resigning Prime Minister Draghi.
The party headed by Meloni has a 'zero tolerance' approach to illegal immigration and wants EU agreements in this direction to be renegotiated.
Described as "post-fascist", the Brotherhood of Italy Party draws attention to illegal immigrants and voices the claim of "Islamization of Europe".
She supports the amendment of the Italian Constitution to place the country's law above European law.
It is known that Meloni has a desire to go down in history as the first woman to hold a senior position in Italian politics.
“The will of the people is expressed in one way: by voting,” she says. "Let's give Italy hope and strength again."
If her party is victorious in the elections, Meloni will be in first place to become prime minister, but she will be able to nominate someone other than her own party for the leadership.
In her personal biography, she describes herself as a 'political and professional journalist'.
She became interested in politics from the age of 15. She was elected to the Roman State Assembly of Alleanza Nazionale in 1998, at the age of 21, and remained in that position until 2002, she.
From February 2001 to 2004 she served as a member of the national steering committee of Azione Giovani, the youth movement of the Alleanza Nazionale.
In 2004, she was elected president of Azione Giovani.
In December 2012, she left Popolo della Libertà and founded the political movement 'Fratelli d'Italia Centrodestra nazionale' together with Guido Crosetto and Ignazio La Russa.
She was unanimously re-elected as party leader at the second national congress of the Fratelli d'Italia held in Trieste in December 2017.
On March 4, 2018, she fivefolded the parliamentary number of the Fratelli d'Italia.
Her party won 18 senators and 32 councillors in the general elections.
She currently serves as a member of the House of Representatives Constitutional Affairs Committee.
On 28 September 2020, she was unanimously elected leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party).
According to the latest opinion poll released by the SWG research company on July 18, 2022, FdI ranks first with 23.8 percent, and the Democratic Party (PD), the roof party of the centre-left, ranks second with 22.1 percent.
Her words became books and songs
The San Giovanni rally is an important milestone in the rise of Giorgia Meloni. In this rally, she memorized the key elements of identity politics, which was effective in the increase in support, with slogan-like expressions and turned it into its flag.
As soon as she began her speech in San Giovanni Square, the crowd that had stood in the sun for hours seemed to have gained a new energy. Meloni was shouting these words that would later become a slogan or even a remix played in nightclubs:
“(For them) the family is the enemy. National identity is an enemy. Gender identity is an enemy. Everything that defines us is an enemy to them… This is their game. They want to describe us as 'parent #1, parent #2', LGBT-gender X citizens. They want to name us with codes. But we are not code. We are human and we will defend our identity. I am Giorgia! I am a woman! I am a mother! I'm Italian! I am a Christian!”
These words, which the crowd applauded enthusiastically, were a complete summary of Meloni's identity politics. Meloni, who published an autobiography last year, named her book "I am Giorgia", quoting the San Giovanni speech. The chapter titles of the book, which entered the bestseller lists at the time it was released, were also "I am a woman", "I am a mother", "I am right-wing", "I am a Christian" and "I am Italian".