2018-05-07

Nationalists Still Rising in Italy

The 5-Star Movement and the League are rising in the polls. On the bright side for Brussels, the League's leader Matteo Silvini appears to be all talk.

ZH: Did Italy's Five Star Movement Just Blink Or Are We Headed To New Elections?
And his unwillingness to break up the coalition with Forza Italia or even completely sideline Berlusconi is all the proof you should need to conclude he’s not really willing to stand up to Brussels.

All that talk of “I’m a populist” and “The EU can go f$@k itself” may have simply been more smoke than fire. We’ll see.

As I said in my previous article on the matter, Italians voted against the established parties for something new. They didn’t vote for The League or Five Star Movement.

They voted for change. It was a protest. And the energy behind protests can be dissipated by the establishment by seducing the ‘new guys’ with power and back-room deals.

Salvini and Di Maio are both outsiders to Rome. They represent a sea change in Italian politics. And, as such, should see each other as natural partners not rivals for a job neither is actually qualified for at this point in time.

So, check the egos, have a constructive meeting and get a deal done that puts both parties on strong footing. Salvini has to give up his alliance with Berlusconi who hates what Five Star represents and Di Maio should give up being Prime Minister if that’s the only way Salvini’s ego can be salved.
The risk of radicals entering government increases when outsider parties with a mandate for change fail to take responsibility. The public will keep voting for change until they find someone willing to do the job.

The establishment in Italy is toast. The only question is who replaces them.

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