Meloni's Brothers of Italy leads Italy despite voter decline

ROME -- Following the EU elections, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed the Brothers of Italy (FDI) as Italy’s dominant political party, however, figures show that despite this victory the party lost over half a million votes compared to the 2022 general election.
Voter turnout for the EU elections was notably low, with only around 48 per cent of the electorate participating, amounting to 23,244,590 voters. This figure shows a decrease of approximately 6 million voters compared to the 2022 elections. This reduced turnout may have contributed to Meloni’s loss in voter numbers. However, the Democratic Party (PD), experienced a resurgence, gaining around 250,000 more votes compared to the previous election, totalling with 5,602,174.
The FDI won the 2022 elections by 26 per cent with 7,301,303 votes. However, despite increasing their percentage share to nearly 29 per cent at the weekend, this translated to only 6,700,235 votes, indicating a loss of around 600,000 voters.
The weekend’s elections were the first for the Democratic Party with Elly Schlein as its secretary. During the 2022 elections, the PD, led by Enrico Letta, only won around 19 per cent of votes. In contrast, Schlein’s party have had 20 candidates elected to the European Parliament, winning 24 per cent. 5,602,174 votes, about 250,000 more than the 5,348,676 in the 2022 elections.
The Five Star Movement’s (M5S) disappointing results showed a loss in both percentages and votes. Winning 15.43 per cent with 4,335,494 votes in 2022, the M5S saw a loss of 2 million votes at the weekend. “As is right, we will start an internal reflection to try to delve deeper into the reasons for this result, which was not what we expected." The party said acknowledging their results.
The next step in the EU parliament will be when the new Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) meet in Strasbourg to elect the next president of the European Commission.
The next European Parliament will likely look different from previous years, with the “Great Coalition” emerging smaller this time while still maintaining a majority. The coalition consisting of the European People’s Party, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, and the Renew party will now compete with the surge in far-right gains across Europe.
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