The leaders of Italy’s right-wing alliance put on a show of unity on Thursday and promised a new era of stable government at a closing rally three days before a snap election which they are tipped to win.
Giorgia Meloni of the Brothers of Italy (Fdi), Matteo Salvini of the League and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi of Forza Italia, aged 85, appeared before thousands of supporters in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo.
They spoke from a stage bearing the slogan “Together, for Italy” in their first joint event in a campaign that has seen them lead in polls but also quarrel over foreign and economic policy.
“We will build a solid, cohesive government with a strong popular mandate, which will remain in power for five years”, said Meloni, who could become Italy’s first female premier and the first to have held openly eurosceptic positions.
Rome-born Meloni, whose party traces its roots to neo-fascism but now presents itself as a more moderate conservative force, was speaking to a home crowd largely composed of Brothers of Italy supporters.
“I will vote for Meloni because I believe that immigration and taxes are the main issues that need to be addressed,”21-year-old Margherita Conti told Reuters.
“But I will also do it because I am happy that we will have a female prime minister and that it will be Giorgia.”
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