Friday, May 9, 2025
The Lagos Today
  • Login
  • Home
  • Tech
    NjiaPay: South African Fintech Startup Reshaping Payment Solutions for African Businesses

    NjiaPay: South African Fintech Startup Reshaping Payment Solutions for African Businesses

    Ghana’s Kofa Secures $8.1M Pre-Series A Funding to Drive Clean Energy Access Across Urban Africa

    Ghana’s Kofa Secures $8.1M Pre-Series A Funding to Drive Clean Energy Access Across Urban Africa

    South Africa’s CureRoot Leverages AI to Unlock New Medicines from African Medicinal Plants

    South Africa’s CureRoot Leverages AI to Unlock New Medicines from African Medicinal Plants

    SA’s Peach Payments Expands into Francophone Africa with PayDunya Acquisition

    SA’s Peach Payments Expands into Francophone Africa with PayDunya Acquisition

    Egypt’s Enza Secures $6.75M to Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa

    Egypt’s Enza Secures $6.75M to Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa

    South African Prop-Tech Startup Preferental Unveils Innovative Tenant-Screening App

    South African Prop-Tech Startup Preferental Unveils Innovative Tenant-Screening App

    LoftyInc Capital Secures $43 Million for First Close of New Pan-African Seed Fund

    LoftyInc Capital Secures $43 Million for First Close of New Pan-African Seed Fund

    Stitch Teams Up with Standard Bank’s Shyft for Instant Wallet Top-Ups in South Africa

    Stitch Teams Up with Standard Bank’s Shyft for Instant Wallet Top-Ups in South Africa

    Kenya Takes Action Against TikTok Following Child Exploitation Exposé

    Kenya Takes Action Against TikTok Following Child Exploitation Exposé

  • Startups⚡ by CRAWL
    NjiaPay: South African Fintech Startup Reshaping Payment Solutions for African Businesses

    NjiaPay: South African Fintech Startup Reshaping Payment Solutions for African Businesses

    Ghana’s Kofa Secures $8.1M Pre-Series A Funding to Drive Clean Energy Access Across Urban Africa

    Ghana’s Kofa Secures $8.1M Pre-Series A Funding to Drive Clean Energy Access Across Urban Africa

    South Africa’s CureRoot Leverages AI to Unlock New Medicines from African Medicinal Plants

    South Africa’s CureRoot Leverages AI to Unlock New Medicines from African Medicinal Plants

    Kenyan Tourism Venture Studio Purple Elephant Ventures Increases Seed Round to $5 Million

    Kenyan Tourism Venture Studio Purple Elephant Ventures Increases Seed Round to $5 Million

    SA’s Peach Payments Expands into Francophone Africa with PayDunya Acquisition

    SA’s Peach Payments Expands into Francophone Africa with PayDunya Acquisition

    Egypt’s Enza Secures $6.75M to Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa

    Egypt’s Enza Secures $6.75M to Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa

    GIIG Partners with SparkRockets to Launch AI-Powered Startup Validation Tool

    GIIG Partners with SparkRockets to Launch AI-Powered Startup Validation Tool

    Tanzania’s Kilimo BaNDO Revolutionizes Agriculture for Smallholder Farmers

    Tanzania’s Kilimo BaNDO Revolutionizes Agriculture for Smallholder Farmers

    South African Prop-Tech Startup Preferental Unveils Innovative Tenant-Screening App

    South African Prop-Tech Startup Preferental Unveils Innovative Tenant-Screening App

    LoftyInc Capital Secures $43 Million for First Close of New Pan-African Seed Fund

    LoftyInc Capital Secures $43 Million for First Close of New Pan-African Seed Fund

  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Biotech
  • Industry
    iPhone 16 Sales Surge 20% in China, Signaling a Strong Comeback

    iPhone 16 Sales Surge 20% in China, Signaling a Strong Comeback

    Grid Africa Secures $2.8 Million for Renewable Energy Initiatives in South Africa

    Grid Africa Secures $2.8 Million for Renewable Energy Initiatives in South Africa

    Millennials and Gen Z Show Shorter Tenures Despite Clear Career Paths, New Report Shows

    Millennials and Gen Z Show Shorter Tenures Despite Clear Career Paths, New Report Shows

    Kenya’s Octavia Secures $3.9M Seed Funding to Tackle Carbon Emissions

    Kenya’s Octavia Secures $3.9M Seed Funding to Tackle Carbon Emissions

  • Features & Interviews
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Art & Design
    • Books
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports
    Pick n Pay Set to List Boxer Business in Africa’s Largest IPO of 2024

    Pick n Pay Set to List Boxer Business in Africa’s Largest IPO of 2024

    One Direction Star Liam Payne Dies after Hotel Balcony Fall

    One Direction Star Liam Payne Dies after Hotel Balcony Fall

    It’s important to set boundaries in entertainment industry – Reminisce

    It’s important to set boundaries in entertainment industry – Reminisce

    AFCON 2023: Super Eagles Ready to Face Lions of Cameroon on Saturday – Peseiro

    Flying Eagles moves to Ikenne for camping in prep for 2024 WAFU B U20 Championship in Togo

    EGUAVOEN APPOINTED NIGERIA FOOTBALL FEDERATION TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

    Eguavoen gives conditions for turning Super Eagles interim job to full time role

    Jagun Jagun secures 7 nominations at 2024 AMAA

    Jagun Jagun secures 7 nominations at 2024 AMAA

    Atiku Faults 2020 Budget Review, Urges FG to Prioritize Welfare of Citizens

    Atiku proposes single term of 6-years rotational Presidency

    Oba Elegushi donates 3 standard tennis courts to LASU, reveal reasons behind donation

    Oba Elegushi donates 3 standard tennis courts to LASU, reveal reasons behind donation

    Covid-19: Cinema Operators Decry N22Bn Losses

    FG grants licensing waiver for community cinemas investors – NFVCB

  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Tech
    NjiaPay: South African Fintech Startup Reshaping Payment Solutions for African Businesses

    NjiaPay: South African Fintech Startup Reshaping Payment Solutions for African Businesses

    Ghana’s Kofa Secures $8.1M Pre-Series A Funding to Drive Clean Energy Access Across Urban Africa

    Ghana’s Kofa Secures $8.1M Pre-Series A Funding to Drive Clean Energy Access Across Urban Africa

    South Africa’s CureRoot Leverages AI to Unlock New Medicines from African Medicinal Plants

    South Africa’s CureRoot Leverages AI to Unlock New Medicines from African Medicinal Plants

    SA’s Peach Payments Expands into Francophone Africa with PayDunya Acquisition

    SA’s Peach Payments Expands into Francophone Africa with PayDunya Acquisition

    Egypt’s Enza Secures $6.75M to Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa

    Egypt’s Enza Secures $6.75M to Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa

    South African Prop-Tech Startup Preferental Unveils Innovative Tenant-Screening App

    South African Prop-Tech Startup Preferental Unveils Innovative Tenant-Screening App

    LoftyInc Capital Secures $43 Million for First Close of New Pan-African Seed Fund

    LoftyInc Capital Secures $43 Million for First Close of New Pan-African Seed Fund

    Stitch Teams Up with Standard Bank’s Shyft for Instant Wallet Top-Ups in South Africa

    Stitch Teams Up with Standard Bank’s Shyft for Instant Wallet Top-Ups in South Africa

    Kenya Takes Action Against TikTok Following Child Exploitation Exposé

    Kenya Takes Action Against TikTok Following Child Exploitation Exposé

  • Startups⚡ by CRAWL
    NjiaPay: South African Fintech Startup Reshaping Payment Solutions for African Businesses

    NjiaPay: South African Fintech Startup Reshaping Payment Solutions for African Businesses

    Ghana’s Kofa Secures $8.1M Pre-Series A Funding to Drive Clean Energy Access Across Urban Africa

    Ghana’s Kofa Secures $8.1M Pre-Series A Funding to Drive Clean Energy Access Across Urban Africa

    South Africa’s CureRoot Leverages AI to Unlock New Medicines from African Medicinal Plants

    South Africa’s CureRoot Leverages AI to Unlock New Medicines from African Medicinal Plants

    Kenyan Tourism Venture Studio Purple Elephant Ventures Increases Seed Round to $5 Million

    Kenyan Tourism Venture Studio Purple Elephant Ventures Increases Seed Round to $5 Million

    SA’s Peach Payments Expands into Francophone Africa with PayDunya Acquisition

    SA’s Peach Payments Expands into Francophone Africa with PayDunya Acquisition

    Egypt’s Enza Secures $6.75M to Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa

    Egypt’s Enza Secures $6.75M to Drive Financial Inclusion in Africa

    GIIG Partners with SparkRockets to Launch AI-Powered Startup Validation Tool

    GIIG Partners with SparkRockets to Launch AI-Powered Startup Validation Tool

    Tanzania’s Kilimo BaNDO Revolutionizes Agriculture for Smallholder Farmers

    Tanzania’s Kilimo BaNDO Revolutionizes Agriculture for Smallholder Farmers

    South African Prop-Tech Startup Preferental Unveils Innovative Tenant-Screening App

    South African Prop-Tech Startup Preferental Unveils Innovative Tenant-Screening App

    LoftyInc Capital Secures $43 Million for First Close of New Pan-African Seed Fund

    LoftyInc Capital Secures $43 Million for First Close of New Pan-African Seed Fund

  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Biotech
  • Industry
    iPhone 16 Sales Surge 20% in China, Signaling a Strong Comeback

    iPhone 16 Sales Surge 20% in China, Signaling a Strong Comeback

    Grid Africa Secures $2.8 Million for Renewable Energy Initiatives in South Africa

    Grid Africa Secures $2.8 Million for Renewable Energy Initiatives in South Africa

    Millennials and Gen Z Show Shorter Tenures Despite Clear Career Paths, New Report Shows

    Millennials and Gen Z Show Shorter Tenures Despite Clear Career Paths, New Report Shows

    Kenya’s Octavia Secures $3.9M Seed Funding to Tackle Carbon Emissions

    Kenya’s Octavia Secures $3.9M Seed Funding to Tackle Carbon Emissions

  • Features & Interviews
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Art & Design
    • Books
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports
    Pick n Pay Set to List Boxer Business in Africa’s Largest IPO of 2024

    Pick n Pay Set to List Boxer Business in Africa’s Largest IPO of 2024

    One Direction Star Liam Payne Dies after Hotel Balcony Fall

    One Direction Star Liam Payne Dies after Hotel Balcony Fall

    It’s important to set boundaries in entertainment industry – Reminisce

    It’s important to set boundaries in entertainment industry – Reminisce

    AFCON 2023: Super Eagles Ready to Face Lions of Cameroon on Saturday – Peseiro

    Flying Eagles moves to Ikenne for camping in prep for 2024 WAFU B U20 Championship in Togo

    EGUAVOEN APPOINTED NIGERIA FOOTBALL FEDERATION TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

    Eguavoen gives conditions for turning Super Eagles interim job to full time role

    Jagun Jagun secures 7 nominations at 2024 AMAA

    Jagun Jagun secures 7 nominations at 2024 AMAA

    Atiku Faults 2020 Budget Review, Urges FG to Prioritize Welfare of Citizens

    Atiku proposes single term of 6-years rotational Presidency

    Oba Elegushi donates 3 standard tennis courts to LASU, reveal reasons behind donation

    Oba Elegushi donates 3 standard tennis courts to LASU, reveal reasons behind donation

    Covid-19: Cinema Operators Decry N22Bn Losses

    FG grants licensing waiver for community cinemas investors – NFVCB

  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
The Lagos Today
No Result
View All Result
Home World News

Giorgia Meloni sworn in as Italy’s prime minister. Some fear the hard-right turn she’s promised to take

by Eucharia Egwuma
October 24, 2022
in World News, World News
Reading Time: 7 mins read
0
0
Giorgia Meloni sworn in as Italy’s prime minister. Some fear the hard-right turn she’s promised to take
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Giorgia Meloni, the hard-right leader who was sworn in as Italy’s first female prime minister on Saturday, won the election on a campaign built around a promise to block migrant ships and support for traditional “family values” and anti-LGBTQ themes.

Meloni was sworn in by the Italian President Sergio Mattarella in a ceremony taking at the Quirinale Palace in Rome.

She heads an alliance of far-right and center-right parties, her own Brothers of Italy chief among them, and is set to form the most right-wing government Italy has seen in decades.

Meloni’s win in parliamentary elections last month suggests the allure of nationalism remains undimmed in Italy – but her vow to take the country on a hard-right turn still leaves many uncertain what will happen next.

The new government is made up of a coalition with two other right-wing leaders. One is Matteo Salvini, a former interior minister who became the darling of the hard-right in 2018 when he shifted his party, the League, once a northern secessionist party, into a nationalist force.

Meloni’s 24 ministers – six of them women – were being sworn in alongside her on Saturday.

The other is Silvio Berlusconi, the center-right former Italian prime minister widely remembered for his “bunga bunga” sex scandals with young women. Both men have previously publicly expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, which has prompted questions over what the coalition’s approach to Russia will be.

And just this week – days before consultations on forming the government were set to begin – secretly recorded audio was circulated in which Berlusconi appeared to lay the blame for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine at Kyiv’s door, and boasted of having reestablished relations with the Russian leader.

“I reconnected a little bit with President Putin, quite a bit, in the sense that for my birthday he gave me 20 bottles of Vodka and a very sweet letter, and I responded with giving him bottles of Lambrusco,” said Berlusconi in the clip, released by Italian news agency LaPresse on Tuesday. The 86-year-old billionaire and media magnate was speaking with Forza Italia party members at the time.

A party spokesperson denied Berlusconi was in touch with Putin, saying he had been telling parliamentarians “an old story referring to an episode many years ago.” Berlusconi defended his comments in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Thursday, saying they had been taken out of context.

Amid backlash over the comments, Meloni, who has been a strong supporter of Ukraine as it battles Moscow’s invasion, sought to clarify where she and and the coalition would stand once in power.

“I have and always will be clear, I intend to lead a government with a foreign policy that is clear and unequivocal. Italy is fully part of Europe and the Atlantic Alliance. Anyone who does not agree with this cornerstone will not be able to be part of the government, at the cost of not being a government. With us governing, Italy will never be the weak link of the West,” she said.

Nonetheless, liberals within Italy and the European Union are fearful of what the promised rightward turn may mean for the country and its future – while conservative constituents feel only a strong-arm politician, like Meloni, can lead the country out of crisis amid soaring energy costs and high youth unemployment.

“Meloni is not expressing the vote choices of radical right-wing voters, because we have data that shows that she has been voted for by mostly the center-right,” political science professor Lorenzo De Sio of the Luiss Guido Carli University told CNN.

“I would say that the motto for Meloni is to be a sort of new conservative – that is to say, conservativism for the 21st century. She might bear some far-back connection to the post-fascist legacy, but clearly that’s not the core of her political platform now.”

Differing views

Meloni grew up in the working-class Roman neighborhood of Garbatella, a historically left-wing part of southern Rome that was built during Benito Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship. She got her political start in the movement Youth Front, a political organization with fascist roots.

She went on to create her own political party, Brothers of Italy, which in just four years went from taking 4% of the vote to winning 26% in last month’s election. While that doesn’t represent the majority of Italians, thanks to her partnership with Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and Salvini’s League, the coalition has enough seats in parliament to govern the country.

Back in the Garbatella neighborhood, among the fruit and vegetable stands that Meloni would go to with her mother, some locals remember her as a child, long before she embraced politics. Opinions on what she will be like as a leader vary widely.

“I know her very well. I knew her since she was little,” said Aldo, a fruit and vegetable vendor from Garbatella who has run his market stand for decades. “Her mother would come shop here. She always had a book in her hand to study. If she goes forward like she did when she was little, she’ll be strong.”

He added: “You have to have a strong fist. Period. You understand? That’s how you move forward. Otherwise Italy, kapoof, it goes away!”

Just across the market, Gloria, who was born and raised in Garbatella and helps her son at his Roman food stand, has very different views.

“What she has said until now terrifies me,” she told CNN.

“There are many people that connect with these kinds of conservative ideals because they are racist, because they are not progressive. I have three children and I wonder, will my daughter have the freedom to have an abortion if she wants, to be a lesbian?”

Meloni has sought in recent times to distance her party from its neo-fascist roots. Her policy proposals have also evolved over time, including walking back some of her more anti-EU ideas.

Back in 2014, she said, “Italy has to leave the euro!” and called for Congress to revoke sanctions on Russia. Now, according to her proposed plan for government and latest comments, she wants Italy to be a “protagonist within Europe.”

Emiliano, a local who was shopping at the Garbatella market, said he didn’t bother to vote in the latest election. “Neither the left nor the right deserve a vote. Before, politicians ate but we ate also. Now only they eat,” he said.

Fears over rising costs

With the skyrocketing cost of energy, the risk for Italian businesses and households is high. The agricultural sector, which represents 1.96% of Italy’s GDP, is facing a shortage of everything from fertilizers, to diesel, to electricity and glass, causing prices to rise rapidly with a devastating impact on farm budgets, according to Coldiretti, the largest association for agricultural assistance in Italy.

According to a recent report by Coldiretti, rising production costs have forced many small agricultural businesses to shut down for the season because they can’t cope.

Sabina Petrucci manages her family’s olive oil company, Olio Petrucci, and is also a member of Coldiretti’s European council for young agricultural workers. She feels hopeful and believes the only way to fix the present issues is through strong political leadership.

“We need a very concrete government who helps us with energy costs and also to achieve the financial aid and financial help we may need in the future,” said Petrucci. “Many of the producers in the area are stopping their production, they really are frightened about the increasing costs.”

She describes rising energy costs as “the major threat for us,” adding: “We have opened our mill, but the production costs have risen throughout the summer.”

Italy has the third oldest population in the world, but Meloni and her party have been working to connect with Italy’s youth, the next generation of voters. She herself became involved in politics at 15, after registering with Youth Front, the youth wing of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), a party established by Giorgio Almirante, who was a minister in the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini’s government.

Francesco Todde is a leader of the National Youth movement, a political movement put in place by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party in 2014 to connect with a younger generation of politically interested Italians who have been frustrated with the political status quo.

“Giorgia Meloni comes from a political youth path, so she always paid a lot of attention to the youth and made reforms for the youth. At the start of her political career she was minister of youth,” he told CNN.

Elisa Segnini Bocchia, another committed member of the National Youth movement, responds to why some are quick to associate this movement with fascism, saying: “Our past isn’t our future. So, we don’t look at the past. We look for the new future.”

-CNN

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • X

Like this:

Like Loading...
Previous Post

Shoprite reopens in Circle mall, Lekki, 2yrs after EndSARS protest looting

Next Post

UAE Govt jails Nigerian Lady for Filming Maltreatment, Family kicks

Eucharia Egwuma

Eucharia Egwuma

Related Posts

The Global Innovation Race: Can Africa Afford to Move Slowly?

by Iyanu Ale
March 3, 2025
0

Africa has long lagged behind the rest of the world in economic development, with an economy smaller than India’s and...

Ethiopia’s Digital Stock Exchange Revolutionizes Trading

Ethiopia’s Digital Stock Exchange Revolutionizes Trading

by Iyanu Ale
January 13, 2025
0

The launch of Ethiopia's first stock exchange in 50 years marks a significant milestone in the country's economic development. This...

Next Post
UAE Govt jails Nigerian Lady for Filming Maltreatment, Family kicks

UAE Govt jails Nigerian Lady for Filming Maltreatment, Family kicks

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

North Korean hackers said to have stolen nearly $400 million in cryptocurrency last year

Lagos Police arraign cryptocurrency marketer over alleged N51.7m fraud

2 years ago
Man Accuses LASTMA Officials of Absconding with Bleeding Wife, Theft

Sanwo-Olu’s Aide Tasks LASTMA Officers On Effective Enforcement

3 years ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    Tags

    #EndSARS 2023 Elections 2023 polls 2023 Presidency ACCIDENT Africa All progressives Congress APC Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Babajide Sanwo-Olu CBN Central Bank of NIgeria Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Coronavirus pandemic Covid-19 Covid-19 in Lagos Covid-19 in Nigeria Covid-19 Vaccine Cryptocurrency Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC Federal Government Federal Government of Nigeria Fraud Gov. Sanwo-Olu House of Representatives Lagos-Ibadan expressway Lagos state Lagos State Government Lagos State House of Assembly Lagos State Police command Muhammadu Buhari Murder Naira NDLEA Nigeria Nigeria Customs Service Nigerian Economy Nigeria Police Force Rape Strike action TECH UK United Kingdom US

    News

    • Industries
    • National
    • Startups
    • Biotechnology

    Opinion

    • Editorials
    • Today’s Opinion
    • Letters
    • Sunday Review
    • Advertise
    • Opinion
    • Features & Interviews
    • Investigation
    • Contact

    © 2020 The Lagos Today - Nkali.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Tech
    • Business
    • Biotech
    • Startups
    • Entertainment
    • Feature & Interviews
    • Reviews
    • Opinion

    © 2020 The Lagos Today - Nkali.

    %d