Politics

Italians set to vote in historic elections

Rome, Sep 24 (EFE).- Italy’s political leaders wrapped up their campaigns ahead of decisive elections Sunday which is likely to bring to power the most right-wing government since the end of WWII.

Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni is the favorite to to win the election, according to polls.

Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy party, could become the country’s first female prime minister, and form the most right-wing government since Benito Mussolini’s fascist rule was overthrown at the end of the war.

Meloni’s coalition, which includes Matteo Salvini’s far-right League and Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia parties, are expected to win a landslide victory, enjoying 20 points advantage over Enrico Letta’s central-left Democratic Party and its allies.

According to the latest polls, published 15 days before election day, Meloni enjoyed 25 percent of the voter’s support while Letta had 21.5 percent.

But Salvini and Berlusconi’s links with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the tug-of-war between Meloni and her European partners and the fear that a large majority could change the Constitution without consensus have marked an intense summer campaign with up to 40 percent voters undecided or likely to abstain.

According to the polls, if these 40 percent of people vote, the outcome of the elections could be quite different.

While Italian governments in recent years have seen complex coalitions between opposing parties that almost never managed to secure a majority, the right-bloc coalition have presented a united front, with Meloni as its undisputed leader. EFE

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