MEP Gyöngyösi: Italy’s election and the counter-productive hysteria

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MEP Márton Gyöngyösi’s (Non-attached) thoughts via press release:

Ever since the moment Giorgia Meloni and the Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) party won the election in Italy, there’s been no shortage of articles concerned about Europe and Italian democracy, typically written by leftist-liberal politicians, journalists and experts (fascism researchers, mind you!). Not only do these articles deride democracy, they actually benefit authoritarian regimes! Let me show you why.

Post-World War II Italy has been a stable democracy where public life thrives (although sometimes more intensely than in other western states) and elections are free. Governments are typically formed by multi-party coalitions, and the people of Italy usually don’t even wait until the end of the term to replace unpopular politicians. This system has just seen the success of Giorgia Meloni and her Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) party, which is often called far right and its genesis can indeed be traced back to the environment of post-fascist movements.

They won in a valid election, according to the will of a significant share of Italian people. Completely democratically.

Furthermore, FdI will not be able to form a government on its own; they will have to involve coalition partners. Italy will likely have a three-party government with members who have different views on several issues. In the meantime, Italy’s state administration will continue doing its job the same way, and keep running the country just as it has done since 1946 despite any ongoing political crisis. Obviously, neither Meloni nor her party has any chance of making a significant change to that.

In addition, Meloni is a dedicated pro-western politician who does have her fair share of criticism against the EU, but she clearly stands by the Euro-Atlantic cooperation in this conflict-ridden situation.

Her resolve is further reinforced by the economic necessity that Italy has to rely on Europe in terms of financial and other matters as well. Should Meloni become a loose cannon any time during her governance, she would simply fail. That’s exactly why democratic checks and balances are so important: no matter who gets into power, they are never completely free to do whatever they want.

In contrast, authoritarian systems have no checks and balances at all while the government has total control over every segment of state administration, in other words, they can do whatever they want. Hungary is controlled by such an authoritarian system, where elections are not free, coalition-based governance is basically an unknown idea, and the independence of state administration is nearly unheard of.

That’s the difference between the two. You can love or hate Giorgia Meloni all you want. She will stay in power as long as she has many supporters. If she loses them, she will be sacked. Conversely, Viktor Orbán stays in power regardless if he is loved by the people, because he uses the authorities to persecute his opponents and “updates” the election rules every couple of years to fit his agenda.

Well, that’s the difference between a politician who you dislike but is elected in a democracy and another who simply builds up a dictatorship.

That’s why it’s dangerous to talk so much nonsense and get so hysterical about a potentially unwelcome result of a democratic election and cry fascism and dictatorship, thus blending democratic countries with real dictatorships.

Just between us, do you know who are the happiest about this? Dictators. So let me ask you to stop this and when you choose your friends and enemies, please do not base your decision on partisan ideology. Instead, try to look at the ones who abide by the rules of democracy. No matter which side they are on.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

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