The election of fascist Georgia Meloni, and her fascist party Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d’Italia) gaining 26 percent of the vote, must set a ringing alarm bell around the world for all those opposed to fascism and its catastrophic historical reality.
Meloni’s victory, overtaking Matteo Salvini’s far right League (Lega) as the leading force in a far right coalition that took 44 percent of the vote in the Italian election in September 2022, comes at a time when fascists in Sweden have just achieved strong electoral success, and when fascist Marine Le Pen’s National Rally have become the second largest party in the French Parliament. The Italian electoral system has permitted the Brothers of Italy to take advantage of the political crisis and for Meloni to become prime minister, despite the right wing as a whole obtaining less votes than in the previous election.
Meloni’s victory will boost the confidence of fascists and the far-right everywhere and intensify the anti-migrant direction of the establishment.
Meloni described Viktor Orbán, the far right leader of Hungary, as an inspiration. The European parliament recently declared that Hungary can no longer be seen as a full democracy, with democratic standards being routinely ignored.
Among those who congratulated fascist Meloni on her victory were the now previous prime minister of Britain Liz Truss, and US presidential candidate Hilary Clinton. We condemn the normalisation of Meloni by politicians and the media as an abominably irresponsible political intervention — a crime of history.
Fascist Meloni is now leading the most extreme far right government in Italy since before the Second World War, and celebrates fascist Mussolini. History offers us the horror of the lesson that we cannot allow this normalisation of fascists, nor the dangers of them gaining political office.
The job of all who are against fascism and its horrific historic realities is to call out and ostracise fascist forces from political office.
#NeverAgain must be something we enact, to expose the fascists and the danger they pose.
Mainstream politicians are not only intensifying the racist division that creates the breeding ground for fascist forces. In some cases, they are also congratulating them on their advances! We must cry out loudly and redouble our efforts to organise mass antiracist and antifascist opposition, such as the kind that defeated the fascist Golden Dawn in Greece, helped push back the FPO in Austria, shut down the fascist PxC in Catalonia, or smashed the National Front, British National Party, the English Defence League, and fascist Tommy Robinson’s most recent attempt to build a mass movement in Britain.
Internationally antifascist and antiracist movements must act, must share and learn from these experiences and organise the kind of united movement that can defeat the threat of fascism.
World Against Racism and Fascism will be coordinating demonstrations for UN Anti-Racism Day 2023 on Saturday 18 March (with actions throughout the following week).
The international coordination will also call protests outside Italian embassies and consulates on the date of Meloni’s official inauguration as prime minister, as well as protests outside any tours she may organise. No racism no fascism! Don’t normalise fascism! Fascists not welcome! No Pasarán!
World Against Racism and Fascism
21 October 2022
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