Electorates with long and strong democratic traditions are better posed to resist external interference in their political processes.Continue reading
Enrico Letta is the leader of the main opposition party in Italy, the left leaning Democratic Party. However, he did not manage to hold on to his position. After the election on Sunday, he announced that he would stand down, reported Politico. Enrico Letta said that he would stay on as party leader for the time being, but he would not contest the leadership during the coming party congress.
The leftist politician said in connection with the election that Sunday was a “sad day for Italy and Europe.” He added that the Italian people have chosen and so the country will have a right-wing government.
The Democratic Party came in second in the election, while the coalition of right-wing parties, led by Giorgia Meloni and the Brothers of Italy party, managed to won the election with 45 percent of the votes. As a result, Meloni is likely to become the next prime minister of Italy.
During the Italian election campaign, Hungary and the Hungarian government were commonly featured topics, with the leftist branch trying to rally against the right-wing Italian parties by calling out their relationship with Fidesz and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, or simply just smearing Hungary.
This is exactly what Enrico Letta did, when in early September he said at an economic forum that with the left, Italy would remain in Europe’s top division alongside France and Germany, while a possible electoral victory for the right would take the country into Serie B (a reference to the football’s second division), alongside the likes of Poland and Hungary. The leftist politician later added that Italy cannot afford to follow the path of Hungary and Poland.
Even earlier, during the summer, Letta also spoke out against the alliance between the Italian and the Hungarian right. He accused Viktor Orbán of using tools, such as the right to veto, to “defeat sanctions against Russia and on migration issues.”
Even though Enrico Letta did all he could to dissuade voters away from the right-wing parties, he did not succeed, and now his career as party leader is seemingly ending while the Italian right thrives in the recently-earned, landslide election victory.
Featured photo via MTI/EPA/ANSA/Fabio Frustaci