A record broken and a task still to complete: continue governing. This Friday, Giorgia Meloni’s Executive becomes the longest-lasting in the history of the Italian Republic. It is 1,413 consecutive days in power, one more than Silvio Berlusconi’s second government, breaking with a tradition of almost atavistic instability.
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After the celebration, which will be suitably emphasized, the prime minister will begin a journey with a much less certain outcome: winning the 2027 elections. The goal is no longer contested only by an opposition that, unlike in 2022, is working to present itself united, but also by someone positioned to her right. Former General Roberto Vannacci claims to represent the “pure right” and his National Future has already surpassed Meloni’s two partners, Forza Italia and the League, in the polls. The Financial Times has just presented him as the possible “Trojan horse” of Russian influence in Italy.
From the day she arrived at the Chigi Palace, received with elegance and cordiality by Mario Draghi, Giorgia Meloni had a date marked on the calendar: September 4, 2026. The euphoria over the arrival at the Government headquarters of a leader with a history in the far right was accompanied by an obsession: “to disprove all forecasts,” as she said in her first speech before Parliament when requesting confidence.
It is the myth, fueled by herself, of the “underdog,” the underdog who starts with all odds against her and ends up prevailing against all. First for being a woman and then for coming from a political community that, due to its historical continuity line with fascism and particularly with the Republic of Salò, lived for decades on the margins of Italian politics, at least until Silvio Berlusconi legitimized and incorporated it into his coalition in 1994.
“It will last little,” many commentators predicted then, including some conservatives. Perhaps also for the pleasure of disproving them, Meloni has come this far with a surprisingly stable team and without the government crises that have traditionally marked Italian politics. To achieve this, she has sacrificed many things on the altar of stability, including much of the promised reforms, and has avoided replacing even ministers whom, according to people close to her, she complained about in private for long periods.
In a conversation with La Vanguardia last October, when her Executive had just become the third longest-lasting of the Republic, Meloni explained her philosophy as follows: “Stability brings with it many other innovations. It allows for a continued development strategy, solid international relations, and brave decisions, because it shows that stability is only achieved with true majorities and not with improvised pacts for party interests.” And yet, since then something has changed. Above all her relationship with Donald Trump, which has gone from the almost displayed harmony of the first months to an evident cooling and several public disagreements.
The price of stability: few reforms and questioned ministers that Meloni has avoided replacing
Her critics respond that the price paid for that stability has been high. Major reforms have advanced little. Public accounts are under control, to Brussels’ satisfaction, but growth remains very modest and real wages continue to lose ground. More generally, they reproach the Government for a lack of political dynamism.
It is no coincidence that one of the most interesting essays published about Meloni is titled La marcia sul posto (The march without moving), by Il Post journalist Valerio Valentini. The title deliberately plays with Mussolini’s March on Rome of October 28, 1922, to describe the most immobile, almost Christian Democratic, aspect of the prime minister: a leader who came to power promising a conservative revolution that ended up making the preservation of power one of her main achievements.
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The celebration will take place in Bari, the capital of Apulia and a symbol of one of the territories where the right still has more difficulty penetrating. In the last regional elections, the progressive Antonio Decaro obtained almost 64% of the votes against 35% for the center-right candidate, a difference close to 29 points.
The anniversary will be celebrated in Bari, where Brothers of Italy has mobilized 10,000 supporters
Brothers of Italy has mobilized the party to turn the Bari event into a show of strength. Under the slogan “The most stable government, a stronger Italy,” the organizers expect to gather up to 10,000 supporters, also transported by coaches from different parts of the country. The central moment will be Meloni’s speech, which will claim the results of these four years and could announce new security measures, one of the areas in which she herself has acknowledged difficulties.
The political message will be quite transparent: “Give me another five years.” That is, the beginning, not even too disguised, of a very long electoral campaign that will end in 2027.
Meloni has always considered the record a turning point. That is why even within her party they wonder what will happen now. Those who frequent the rooms where the prime minister’s strategy is designed anticipate a much more present Meloni and a more decisive communication, less conditioned by the caution that the office imposed on her when she came to government. The recent clash with Pedro Sánchez over the suspension of Schengen can be considered an appetizer.
Having surpassed the record, Meloni prepares a more combative stage. The clash with Sánchez was the appetizer
“Now the priority is not to cannibalize our allies,” a leader very close to the prime minister admits to La Vanguardia. The problem is that the main threat now comes from even further to the right. Vannacci, the former general who does not shy away from references to fascism, has far surpassed Meloni’s coalition partners, the League and Forza Italia, in the polls, and is beginning to take votes directly from Brothers of Italy.
How to stop him? These days formulas are being studied to modify the electoral law and reduce the risk that Vannacci fractures the conservative bloc. Some leaders of Brothers of Italy are even beginning to consider another possibility: incorporating National Future into the coalition.
But at what price? Perhaps making it much more difficult for a record like the one Meloni celebrates this Friday to be repeated again.
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