Matteo Salvini bids for snap Italian election
August 26th, 2019An anti-government commentator hopes that the Italian Left will derail Matteo Salvini’s effort to call a snap election and gain absolute power. A pro-government analyst, on the other hand, welcomes Salvini’s plan, suggesting that an early election is necessary to restore democratic governance.
In Népszava, Tamás Rónay thinks that Matteo Salvini’s is motivated only by a thirst for absolute power. The left-wing commentator writes that Salvini combines Donald Trump’s performances with Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. So far, his populist politics have been successful, but Rónay suspects that by calling for early elections Salvini miscalculated public sentiments. If an early election does indeed take place, Salvini may only achieve a very narrow victory, Rónay contends. He adds that the Socialists may even form a coalition with the Five Star Movement so that snap elections are postponed.
Magyar Hírlap’s Mariann Őry accuses the Italian Social Democratic Party and the Five Star Movement of trying to get power without democratic legitimation. The pro-government analyst believes that Matteo Salvini called for a snap election in order to restore democratic norms. Őry claims that the European Parliamentary election showed that Italians no longer support the Five Star Movement, and want more border control. In this situation, Salvini needs to call an early election to ensure democratic representation of the popular will, Őry suggests. She thinks that left-wing parties that try to form a coalition are motivated by their desire to boost immigration – even if they can do so without democratic support.