A far-right committed eurosceptic known for his anti-abortion and anti-gay views was elected speaker of Italy’s lower house on Friday.
Former cabinet minister Lorenzo Fontana won the vote in a unity demonstration of the country’s nascent right-wing governing coalition after the clashing alliance agreed a temporary ceasefire.
The election of the ultra-Catholic Fontana was criticized by Italy’s largest LGBTQ+ rights group Arcigay, who accused him of supporting “ultra-conservative, homophobic (and) misogynistic movements”.
She accused Fontana of “always using (President Vladimir) Putin’s Russia as a cultural and political model.”
Fontana, who expressed his support for Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party in 2016, has railed against the “invasion” of Italian immigrants.
Members of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) held a banner in parliament reading: “No to a homophobic and pro-Putin spokesman”.
His election follows Thursday’s appointment of Ignazio La Russa, a veteran of Italy’s post-fascist movement known for collecting memorabilia of dictator Benito Mussolini, as Senate speaker.
La Russa was the choice of Giorgia Meloni, whose post-fascist party, Brothers of Italy, won a historic 26 percent of the vote in the Sept. 25 general election.
The new speakers will now take part in talks with President Sergio Mattarella over the formation of the new government, which is expected to be led by Meloni and in office by the end of the month.
– ‘On the knees’ –
Meloni said on Friday there was “no time to lose” as the eurozone’s third-biggest economy faces a myriad of challenges, most notably rising inflation and an energy crisis linked to the war in Ukraine.
But she can only form a government with the support of her recalcitrant allies, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, founder of the right-wing Forza Italia, and League leader Matteo Salvini.
“We want to give the nation a government that is as authoritarian as possible,” she said – a reference to the bitter struggle for important ministerial posts.
Forza Italia boycotted Thursday’s secret ballot in the Senate to put pressure on Meloni – a move that backfired after La Russa got the extra votes he needed from the opposition.
Italy’s three opposition parties refused to help Meloni, saying they had cast blank ballots.
Political commentators in Italy’s main newspapers analyzed video footage of the election to see who was in the voting booths long enough to write down a name. Some also looked to see which way voters’ feet were pointing as a guide.
The drama, in which the 86-year-old Berlusconi banged his fist and cursed, revealed the fragility of the new government but also showed Meloni’s strength.
Forza Italia was “on its knees,” said daily Domani. An “angry and wounded Berlusconi… could be preparing for a defeated peace or for a war that would shake the right”.
Salvini on Friday said the power struggle was just a “bump in the road” and insisted the new government was ready and would stand the test.
