Irish Examiner view: New opportunity

Italian government

Many of the left are now pinning their hopes on the fact Elly Schlein will present as a viable opponent to Giorgia Meloni. Picture: Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP

The political left in Italy has been taking a hammering in recent times, culminating in the rise to power in Rome of Giorgia Meloni, but there has been a surprise for socialist supporters in recent weeks with the election of Elly Schlein as the new leader of the left-wing Democratic Party (DP).

Citing the need for the left “to change or die”, Schlein swept to power in what is seen as a generational shift for her party, which has gone from being a once dominant political force to won under 20% of the vote in last year’s general election. 

That she narrowly beat an established party favourite, Emilia-Romagna governor Stefano Bonaccini, came as a shockacross the Italian political spectrum, as Bonaccini was forecast to win by a wide margin.

Even more surprising to many Italians is that Schlein is the party’s first female leader, is in a same-sex relationship, and has a multicultural, partly Jewish, background. 

She is also a returnee to the DP, having left during the reign of former prime minister Mateo Renzi because she accused him of taking the party too far to the centre-right.

She takes over the DP at a time when the far right — under Meloni, the leader of the Brothers of Italy party and an organisation with neofascist roots — is riding high having won the general election last September, and scored emphatic wins in regional elections last month.

Vocal on social justice issues, the Italian-Americannational has been compared with US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as being something of a firebrand. 

Many of the left are now pinning their hopes on the fact Schlein will present as a viable opponent to Meloni, a popular leader whose party has continued to gain strength since coming to power. Her leadership now represents a new opportunity to present a clear political alternative to Italy’s populist right.