ČRo Plus: Who is the winner in the Italian election?

Our Alexandr Lagazzi commented for Český rozhlas on the results of Italian parliamentary elections which were held on Sunday.

The winner in the Italian parliamentary elections on Sunday was, as predicted, the Five Star Movement. What was not predicted, and came as a surprise, was the 30% which it received in votes. However, the coalition of North League and Forza Italia got 37%. Who then is the winner?

For me, the real winner is the centre-right coalition. Aside from the fact that they got 37% of votes, it is also interesting, that Mateo Salvini was able to overtake his rival within the coalition of  Silvio Berlusconi, and gain a larger number of votes for the North League in comparison to Forza Italia.

A concern is, to what extent, in case that the ruling body is made of a centre-right coalition, it would be able to keep its pre-election promises, and in what way it would be able to fulfill its programm. There will certainly be a deviation from the current reforms from standing suggestions on how to resolve the migration crisis and, the centre-right will attempt to change the approach of EU towards Italy, for example in regards of  agriculture.  Even so, it will be a very difficult task for the centre-right coalition.

The whole interview is availiable in the archives of ČRo Plus in times between cca [14:13-14:17].

Alexandr Lagazzi
Associate Research Fellow

Expertise: Diplomacy, EU foreign policy, Italy, China, International security, Terrorism, Behavioural Economics