New Italian far-right party threatens Meloni’s hopes
Italian former general Roberto Vannacci has founded his new far-right party in a direct challenge to the rule of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who aims to take Italy in a more hard-line, nationalist direction ahead of next year’s elections.
Described by a party official as a modern-day Julius Caesar, the 57-year-old former paratrooper was greeted with chants of “Generale, Generale, Generale” as he took to the stage of Futuro Nazionale’s inaugural congress.
“We represent the rejects and the scum, and we’re proud of it,” said Vannacci, who aims to give Meloni’s right-wing conservative coalition the upper hand four months after leaving Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s League party.
Vannacci’s populist movement is already closing in on the League with close to five percent of the vote, potentially eclipsing his hopes of returning to power in next year’s national elections unless he strikes an electoral deal with Meloni.
But such a merger would carry huge risks for Meloni and scare away moderate supporters deterred by Vannacci’s anti-EU, pro-Russia agenda and close ties to far-right European parties such as the AfD in Germany.
Vannacci, who has positioned himself as the most hawkish voice on immigration in Italy, said Sunday that he would reduce the number of foreigners living in Italy to about 4 percent of the total population, from the current estimated 12 percent.
“We don’t have a program for immigration, we have a program for re-immigration,” he said to cheers.
Announcing its weekend programme, Futuro Nazionale adopted many of the policies Meloni advocated during his years in opposition before taking responsibility for Italy’s debt mountain in 2022 and having to reassure investors.
Vannacci said he wanted discussions on Italy’s membership in the euro single currency.
He has also proposed abandoning the EU’s Green Deal, which aims to drastically reduce carbon emissions and end Italy’s ban on nuclear power.
The program also supported incentives for families, including tax cuts for those with children.
Although Italy has one of the lowest murder and violent crime rates in the world, Vannacci has vowed zero tolerance for criminals and vowed to build more prisons, saying his first priority will be security and defense.
Vannacci accused Meloni of reneging on many of his campaign promises, but acknowledged that his own program was not well established.
“No plan survives the first shot in war… it has to be adapted to reality,” he said.
