メローニ伊首相、欧州議会選に出馬表明　党の得票増狙いか

【ローマＡＦＰ＝時事】イタリアのジョルジャ・メローニ首相は２８日、６月の欧州議会選挙に出馬する意向を表明した。自身が党首を務める極右政党「イタリアの同胞（ＦＤＩ）」の支持率アップを目指す戦術とみられるが、当選しても欧州議会議員の即時辞任を余儀なくされる見通しだ。（写真はイタリアのジョルジャ・メローニ首相）
　ネオファシズムの流れをくむＦＤＩは、２０２２年のイタリア総選挙で２６％の得票率を獲得し、首位に立った。
　６月６～９日に行われる欧州議会選挙でメローニ氏を筆頭候補にすることで、欧州連合（ＥＵ）内でも国内での高い支持率を生かしたい考えとみられている。ただし、ＥＵの規定では、加盟国の国会議員や閣僚級以上の現職との兼職は原則的に認められていない。
　メローニ氏は、アドリア海に面したペスカーラでの党集会で、「２０２２年９月２５日にイタリアで成し遂げたのと同じことを欧州でも目指したい。右派勢力を結集して多数派をつくり上げ、最終的に欧州でも左派を野党に追い落としたい」と訴え、欧州議会選への出馬の意向を表明。
　「私は『イタリアの同胞』の党首であり、欧州政治の流れを変える重要な役割を果たそうと考える欧州保守派の指導者でもある」と、意気込みを語った。
　メローニ氏の出馬自体はＥＵの規定で認められているものの、政治リスクコンサルタント会社テネオ・インテリジェンスのリサーチ部門責任者、ウォルファンゴ・ピッコリ氏は、「利に走った、恥知らずな選挙戦術」だと批判。
　その上で、世論調査によればメローニ氏が比例代表名簿の筆頭に擁立された場合、党の得票率が２～３％上昇する可能性があると指摘し、自身の影響力を生かして得票増を狙う動きとの見方を示した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/04/30-17:12）

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Sunday she would stand in upcoming European Parliament elections, a move apparently calculated to boost her far-right party, although she would be forced to resign immediately.
Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, which has neo-Fascist roots, came top in Italy's 2022 general election with 26 percent of the vote.
It is polling at similar levels ahead of the European elections on from June 6-9.
With Meloni heading the list of candidates, Brothers of Italy could exploit its national popularity at the EU level, even though EU rules require that any winner already holding a ministerial position must immediately resign from the EU assembly.
We want to do in Europe exactly what we did in Italy on September 25, 2022 -- creating a majority that brings together the forces of the right to finally send the left into opposition, even in Europe! Meloni told a party event in the Adriatic city of Pescara.
In a fiery, sweeping speech touching briefly on issues from surrogacy and Ramadan to artificial meat, Meloni extolled her coalition government's one-and-a-half years in power and what she said were its efforts to combat illegal immigration, protect families and defend Christian values.
After speaking for more than an hour in the combative tone reminiscent of her election campaigns, Meloni said she had decided to run for a seat in the European Parliament.
I'm doing it because I want to ask Italians if they are satisfied with the work we are doing in Italy and that we're doing in Europe, she said, suggesting that only she could unite Europe's conservatives.
I'm doing it because in addition to being president of Brothers of Italy I'm also the leader of the European conservatives who want to have a decisive role in changing the course of European politics, she added.
The move by Meloni, while allowed under EU regulations, is a pragmatic, shameless electoral calculation, said Wolfango Piccoli, head of research at Teneo Intelligence.
The feeling is she will carry her weight to gain more votes, he said, adding that polls suggest that Meloni's name at the top of the list could improve Brothers of Italy's showing by two to three percent.
- Voters unaware -
Daniele Albertazzi, a professor of politics at the University of Surrey, said Italy's leaders often do this just to get more votes, that's all there is to it.
They almost never take up a seat in the European Parliament, they wouldn't want to leave national politics. But many have done this before.
EU rules require checks that newly elected MEPs do not hold other offices deemed incompatible with their role, such as being a government minister.
If they do, they must step down and appoint a replacement.
Most voters are unaware or they don't care, Piccoli said.
It's about voting for the person regardless of whether she can keep the job or not.
The tactic was used in 2019 by Meloni's deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, who leads the far-right Lega party.
The EU Parliament elections do not provide for alliances within Italy's parties, meaning that Brothers of Italy will be in direct competition with its coalition partners Lega and Forza Italia, founded by Silvio Berlusconi.
The Lega and Forza Italia are polling well below Meloni's party, at about seven percent and eight percent, respectively.
In her rise to power, Meloni often railed against the European Union, LGBT lobbies and what she has called the politically correct rhetoric of the left, appealing to many voters with her straight talk.
I am Giorgia, I am a woman, I am a mother, I am Italian, I am a Christian, she famously declared at a 2019 rally.
She used a similar tone Sunday, instructing voters to simply write Giorgia on their ballots.
I have always been, I am, and will always be proud of being an ordinary person, she shouted.