Thread by @DrAlbertazziUK

14 years ago the then leader of Brothers of Italy's predecessor, the National Alliance, went to Israel, said that fascism was "pure evil" & rejected the legacy of Mussolini's Social Republic.

In time, he moved even further to the centre.

Having split from Berlusconi, Gianfranco Fini tried to reinvent himself as a liberal leader renewing Italy's right, only to end up in the political wilderness. There was no political space back then for someone of his background now embracing the values of the Enlightenment.

Meloni's strategy in recent years could not have been different, as we are seeing today after reps from her party have been shown on TV praising fascism & making openly racist statements.

Whatever details of recent events (which aren't terribly important), her guiding principle is simple: target "moderate" voters who are leaving Forza Italia - now the shadow of the party it once was -

while reassuring radical elements within her party that they are not about to be "betrayed". To fully appreciate this, one has to analyse the language she uses in demonstrations & speeches delivered to her supporters...

... full of references & key words that only those in the know can fully appreciate ( good topic for a PhD, incidentally, and maybe someone out there is already writing it).

In other words -- not unlike the League - the attempt so far has been to target & please different constituencies at once. After all "moderate" Italians are well used to being governed by right wingers who - until the day before - were considered as very radical.

One of the important legacies of Silvio Berlusconi is exactly having brought the then Social Movement & Bossi's League into govt, making them a permanent feature of the right wing coalition for decades.

Those who follow Italian politics know of the various scandals that have afflicted the two largest parties of the right in recent days. They'll blame their poor performance in local elections today on hostile media covering these events.

But while these events won't help them, all the signs were even before that they were going to do badly , due to a variety of reasons. These include the PD's rootedness at local level, poor choice of candidates & infighting.

However, poor results at local and regional levels mean nothing as far as subsequent national elections are concerned. Indeed Berlusconi lost ALL local and regional elections while in govt - only to perform considerably better at national level.

While this could be an opportunity for the so-called left and near left to try and take control of the agenda & portray themselves as "winners" (for a change), it is also the moment for them to push forward with actual proposals & a sense of direction.

In the world of permanent campaigning, waiting until next year will be too late. /END/