Italy's coalition government includes, from left, Deputy PM and leader of la Lega, Matteo Salvini; the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte; Deputy PM and leader of M5S, Luigi Di Maio; and Undersecretary for Prime Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti. Credit: Elisabetta Villa / Getty
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The scenes early this month at the Raduno della Lega (the annual convention of the Lega Nord), in Pontida in Northern Italy, were unprecedented – not because of the number or enthusiasm of the attendees, but because of how many of them came from the South of Italy.
Once the party of ‘Northern independence’, the far-right Lega built its identity in relation to the ‘otherness’ of the South. It portrayed itself as the defender of Northern industriousness and entrepreneurship against the predatory Roman government (referred to as Roma Ladrona, or ‘Rome the Thief’) and parasitic Southerners (called Terroni, a disparaging term for country folk). In Pontida, however, it seemed that the whole country was united behind the Lega. So what changed?
Under the leadership of Matteo Salvini, the former secessionist movement for the rich Northern regions of Lombardia and Veneto has seen its national base grow exponentially. In March, after years spent in the political background, the party gained 17% of the votes – more than the former favourite, centre-right Forza Italia, Berlusconi’s party. Pretty impressive for a fringe movement that in the past struggled to reach double digits.
The Lega was not, however, the largest party in the last general election. That position was taken by the Movimento Cinque Stelle (M5S). The populist party founded by comedian Beppe Grillo in the aftermath of the financial crisis won around 30% of the votes.
Despite their vastly different political outlooks – M5S gathered significant support from disgruntled left-wing voters; the Lega is radically right-wing – the two parties eventually managed to find enough common ground to form an improbable coalition. Subsequently, thanks, mainly, to Salvini’s political adroitness, the Lega has managed to seize the political agenda from its bigger coalition partner, and is now level pegging with M5S at around 30%.
Populist parties have been on the rise for a while across the West now. And it’s no real surprise that they have now achieved electoral success in Italy. The high unemployment, stagnant wages, dishonest politicians were the perfect conditions to drive Italian voters towards populism. Both the Lega and the M5S have triumphantly capitalised on this wave of discontent.
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