How Giorgia Meloni built Italy's most stable government since Mussolini

What explains Giorgia Meloni’s exceptional political longevity, and will it continue?

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Visiting Senior Fellow Dr Marina Cino Pagliarello argues that her government's record duration in post-war Italy comes down to two factors: political skill and favourable political conditions. Meloni has been able to preserve a strong ideological identity at home while governing pragmatically abroad and reassuring European partners, NATO allies and markets. Her stability is also relational as the Brothers of Italy clearly dominates coalitions, and the opposition has struggled to build a credible alternative.

At the same time, some of her most ambitious reforms have proved difficult to complete, while Italy still faces deep economic constraints around productivity, wages, public debt and limited fiscal space. With pressure from challenger Roberto Vannacci, whether the political formula that produced Meloni’s stability can continue to hold as domestic competition, economic constraints and international pressures intensify will soon be tested.