{"id":17530,"date":"2018-05-06T21:32:23","date_gmt":"2018-05-06T13:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=17530"},"modified":"2018-05-06T21:32:23","modified_gmt":"2018-05-06T13:32:23","slug":"italian-elections-create-huge-political-shake-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian elections create huge political shake-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 4th March general election has caused the biggest shake-up of the Italian political landscape in over 20 years<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chris Thomas\u00a0\u00a0 Resistenze Internazionali (CWI Italy)<\/p>\n

Not since the\u00a0\u2018clean hands\u2019\u00a0corruption scandal of the early\u00a0\u201890s have the establishment parties been so severely wounded. Renzi\u2019s Democratic Party\u00a0(PD)\u00a0suffered a humiliating defeat coming a poor second to the populist Five Star Movement\u00a0(M5S)\u00a0while Berlusconi\u2019s Forza Italia\u00a0(FI)\u00a0was outpolled by the right-wing populist Lega led by Matteo Salvini. On a turnout of 73%,\u00a0over 50% of votes went to perceived anti-establishment parties reflecting a clear rejection of traditional politics and a desperate desire for change after years of corruption,\u00a0austerity and economic devastation for ordinary people.<\/p>\n

With no clear victor,\u00a0weeks and possibly months of uncertainty are likely as parties struggle to form a viable government.<\/p>\n

The collapse in the vote for the PD,\u00a0the main party in the outgoing coalition and favourite of the Italian capitalist class,\u00a0was even greater than the polls had predicted. In the Camera\u00a0(lower house)\u00a0the PD on 19% was only just ahead of the Lega,\u00a0a far cry from the 40% polled in the European elections less than 4 years ago. Even its dominance of the\u00a0\u2018red regions\u2019\u00a0(former communist party strongholds)\u00a0in the centre has been shattered,\u00a0with the PD losing the Emilia Romagna region to the\u00a0\u2018centre\u2019-right for the first time since the second world war and the holding on in just a few cities like Bologna and Imola. Following such a crushing defeat nationally Renzi has been forced to announce his resignation as leader\u00a0(although it will happen only after a new government is in place).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Economy and politics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though there has been a slight upturn in the economy,\u00a0after nearly a decade of recession,\u00a0the PD was never going to benefit from an economic electoral bounce. Growth is still lower and unemployment higher than before the crisis and most working-class people and many middle-class people have felt no improvement in their daily lives. For many there is no end to the crisis. During the election campaign,\u00a0Embraco\u00a0(part of Whirlpool)\u00a0announced the transfer of production from Turin to Slovakia with the loss of 500 jobs.<\/p>\n

The split off from the PD,\u00a0Liberi e Uguali\u00a0(LeU),\u00a0which was supposed to offer a new\u00a0\u201cleft\u201d\u00a0alternative,\u00a0only just reached the 3% threshold for having candidates elected. This is not surprising when its leaders are associated with all the PD\u2019s anti-working class attacks such as the labour law\u00a0\u2018reform\u2019\u00a0which made it easier to sack workers and the pension\u00a0\u2018reform\u2019\u00a0which has forced workers to work longer. On the eve of the election,\u00a0Pietro Grasso,\u00a0leader of LeU,\u00a0showed his party\u2019s true colours by announcing LeU\u2019s willingness to form a post-electoral coalition with the PD.<\/p>\n

With over 32% of the vote nationally,\u00a0the Five Star Movement is by far the biggest party. It swept the board in the South which has been hardest hit by the economic crisis,\u00a0getting 40% of the vote in Puglia and Sicily and over 50% in some parts of Campania,\u00a0such as Naples. M5S did particularly well amongst young people\u00a0(35% of the under 35s who voted).<\/p>\n

The support for M5S has come from both former left-leaning and right-leaning voters who,\u00a0thoroughly sick of traditional politics,\u00a0have been prepared to overlook the party\u2019s internal problems and chaotic governance of Rome in order to\u00a0\u2018try something different\u2019. However,\u00a0despite its success the M5S will not be able to form a majority government on its own. Terrified of the possibility of a M5S government,\u00a0the Italian ruling class had pushed for a change in the electoral law aimed precisely at denying the movement a majority. Now that same electoral law has resulted in the ruling class having no stable political reference point.<\/p>\n

Luigi Di Maio,\u00a0leader of the M5S,\u00a0has spent the past few months courting big business and trying to present himself as a viable future prime minister and the M5S as a reliable capitalist party,\u00a0including backing away from the movement\u2019s former anti-euro\/EU stance and opposing a wealth tax. He has also declared that he is open to the idea of alliances with other parties. How far he will be able to go along that road is an open question as it flies in the face of the original raison d\u2019etre of the M5S \u2013 a movement forged in complete opposition to the rotten political\u00a0\u2018caste\u2019\u00a0and traditional parties. If the M5S should decide to go into a coalition with any of the other parties it would most likely result in the movement shattering,\u00a0with one part attempting to move back to its anti-establishment origins.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0\u2018centre\u2019-right has emerged as the biggest coalition but,\u00a0with 37% of the vote,\u00a0it is also short of a majority. The significant change is that the virulently anti-immigrant Lega is now the biggest party on the right overturning the balance of forces within the coalition away from Berlusconi\u2019s Forza Italia.<\/p>\n

Immigration<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the media,\u00a0the question of immigration dominated the electoral campaign with all the major parties adopting a hard-line position. But in the North and increasingly in parts of the Centre,\u00a0it has been the Lega which has reaped the electoral benefits. It has seen its vote increase nationally from 4% at the last election to 18% this time\u00a0(a third of those voters having previously abstained and a quarter switching from Berlusconi\u2019s party). Also,\u00a0Fratelli d\u2019Italia,\u00a0which is part of the coalition and has its roots in the fascist MSI,\u00a0tripled its vote to 4.35%. The\u00a0\u2018centre\u2019-right will undoubtedly attempt to win over MPs from other parties in order to form a majority. But it will be extremely difficult to find the necessary numbers\u00a0(over 50 seats),\u00a0especially with Salvini as the candidate for prime minister.<\/p>\n

Despite the anti-immigration political discourse and unprecedented media publicity for the fascist Casapound,\u00a0it only managed to get 0.9% of the vote. However,\u00a0the shooting of 6 immigrants by a right-wing terrorist in the course of the election campaign showed the dangers that anti-immigrant politics are fuelling. The question of anti-racism and anti-fascism will continue to be a central one whichever government emerges.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018Power to the People\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The newly established left-wing Potere al Popolo\u00a0(Power to the People)\u00a0failed to reach the 3% threshold for parliamentary representation. It\u00a0got 370,000 votes,\u00a0just over\u00a01% nationally\u00a0(compared with 3% in 2013 for the\u00a0\u2018radical\u2019\u00a0left forces). This was in part as a consequence of the\u00a0\u2018useful vote\u2019\u00a0mood which prevailed affecting all the smaller lists.<\/p>\n

For a movement formed only a few weeks before the election and without the media coverage given to the other parties\u00a0(including the neo-fascist Casapound),\u00a0getting candidates elected was never the main aim. Potere al Popolo was formed from below as a fighting,\u00a0campaigning organisation of and for ordinary people,\u00a0uniting the main left parties and social movements in the country. Hundreds of meetings held in over 100 cities up and down the country attracted thousands of people,\u00a0especially youth.<\/p>\n

It was because of the potential that Potere al Popolo represents for building a fighting anti-capitalist force that Resistenze Internazionali\u00a0(CWI Italy)\u00a0affiliated to it,\u00a0participated in its electoral campaign and stood a candidate on its list in Genova. Whether this organisation will realise its potential is not certain but we will continue in the next period to play a role at a local and national level.<\/p>\n

At this early stage it is impossible to say what kind of government\u00a0(if any)\u00a0will result from this election \u2013 a\u00a0\u2018centre\u2019-right coalition dominated by the Lega,\u00a0a M5S\/PD coalition,\u00a0an alliance between the M5S and the Lega,\u00a0an extended\u00a0\u2018grand coalition\u2019,\u00a0a technocratic government,\u00a0a government of the president with the sole aim of changing\u00a0(yet again)\u00a0the electoral law,\u00a0or maybe new elections \u2013 all are possible outcomes,\u00a0but what is certain is that none will be able to solve any of the problems facing working and middle-class people.<\/p>\n

Italian capitalism\u2019s economic,\u00a0political and social crisis will continue and the building of an anti-capitalist alternative through struggle is now more vital than ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 4th March general election has caused the biggest shake-up of the Italian political landscape in over 20 years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":17531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[148,124],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17530","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international","8":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\nItalian elections create huge political shake-up - China Worker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Italian elections create huge political shake-up - China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 4th March general election has caused the biggest shake-up of the Italian political landscape in over 20 years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Worker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-06T13:32:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2018\/05\/Italy_1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"341\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Italian elections create huge political shake-up\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-06T13:32:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1363,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/Italy_1.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"International\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/\",\"name\":\"Italian elections create huge political shake-up - China Worker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/Italy_1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-06T13:32:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/Italy_1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/Italy_1.jpeg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":341},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/06\\\/17530\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9801\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Italian elections create huge political shake-up\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5\",\"description\":\"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Chinaworker.info\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media1.chinaworker.info\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/logo-sa.png\",\"width\":120,\"height\":126,\"caption\":\"Chinaworker.info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SocialistAction\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/socialistactionhk\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/chinaworker.info\\\/en\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Italian elections create huge political shake-up - China Worker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Italian elections create huge political shake-up - China Worker","og_description":"The 4th March general election has caused the biggest shake-up of the Italian political landscape in over 20 years","og_url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/","og_site_name":"China Worker","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","article_published_time":"2018-05-06T13:32:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":341,"url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2018\/05\/Italy_1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Italian elections create huge political shake-up","datePublished":"2018-05-06T13:32:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/"},"wordCount":1363,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2018\/05\/Italy_1.jpeg","articleSection":["International","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/","name":"Italian elections create huge political shake-up - China Worker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2018\/05\/Italy_1.jpeg","datePublished":"2018-05-06T13:32:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2018\/05\/Italy_1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2018\/05\/Italy_1.jpeg","width":600,"height":341},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2018\/05\/06\/17530\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9801","item":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Italian elections create huge political shake-up"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","name":"\u793e\u6703\u4e3b\u7fa9\u884c\u52d5","description":"Solidarity, Struggle, Socialism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#organization","name":"Chinaworker.info","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media1.chinaworker.info\/2021\/04\/logo-sa.png","width":120,"height":126,"caption":"Chinaworker.info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SocialistAction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/socialistactionhk\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}