It is too early to have the complete list of all 73 Italian MEPs who will sit in the next European Parliament. Votes have not all been counted yet, and in some cases it will depend on single personal decisions. In fact some people were candidates in more than one constituency, and they were elected in different places at the same time. According to the defections, seats will be made available for the next in line. This is what we can say on the day after the election:
First of all, no Mussolini will enter the European Parliament. No matter the name, Alessandra or Caio Giulio Cesare: no descendant of the Italian “duce” will seat in Brussels and Strasbourg. And this is good news for Europe. The mechanism of preferences applying in Italy shredded both Alessandra Mussolini (Forza Italia), the granddaughter of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, nor Caio Giulio Cesare Mussolini (Brothers of Italy, or FdI), the great grandson of the duce. Despite the try of stimulating the fascist sentiment of Italians, the political operation didn’t work.
Berlusconi and Salvini, the old showman beaten by the new one
Salvini’s performance is not surprising. The leader of the League, leader in all the five constituencies, was considered as the true winner of the elections even before the vote. In the end he got 2.3 million preferences. There is no comparison with Silvio Berlusconi. The leader of Forza Italia, head of the list in four out five constituencies, got about 558,000 preferences. On the other hand, the leader and the head of the lists of Brothers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, got 469,000.
Among Salvini, Meloni and Berlusconi only the latter is likely to sit into the European Parliament, while the other two will remain in the national political arena giving their posts to the second most voted candidates of their respective parties.
If Salvini renounces, as it seems, to his place in Brussels and Strasbourg, the League automatically will bring to the European Parliament Angelo Ciocca, Mara Bizzotto, Susanna Ceccardi, Massimo Casanova and Annalisa Tardino.
Similarly, in case Meloni decides to stay in Rome, the post-fascist party FdI will bring to the European Parliament by default Carlo Fidanza, Sergio Berlato, Nicola Procaccini, Raffaele Fitto, and Raffaele Stancanelli.
Tajani, not so popular
In the preferences competition it must be noted the non-exceptional performance of Antonio Tajani. Despite being the head of the list in Central Italy, he obtained just a bit more than 62,000 votes. From the outgoing president of the European Parliament something more was expected.
What the European Parliament can expect for sure from the League are the party’ best-known anti-euro militants, Antonio Maria Rinaldi and Francesca Donato, respectively elected in the constituencies of Center and Islands.
Gualtieri not certain to come back
The Democratic Party (PD) can celebrate the re-election of Paolo De Castro, the ‘agriculture guru’ in Europe. At the same time among the 18 social democrat MEPs will be Giuliano Pisapia and the former Italian permanent representative at the Council of the EU, Carlo Calenda. However, PD risks losing leaving Roberto Gualtieri, outgoing president of Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Everything will depend on the decisions of Pietro Bartolo, former Lampedusa doctor, elected both in Central constituency and in the Islands constituency. If he will made available his seat in central Italy, then Gualtieri will be back in Brussels, otherwise it will be Andrea Soddu to seat in the Eurochamber.
Among the outsiders, PD has celebrities such as outgoing MEPs Nicola Danti and Cecile Kienge, and Beatrice Covassi, current head of Representation of the European Commission in Italy. None of them were capable to win the electoral competition.
Castaldo, M5S purebred horse, re-elected
Among those who will take MEP seats from the 5-Star Movement (M5S) are the outgoing vice president of the European Parliament, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, as well as outgoing MEPs Ignazio Corrao and Laura Ferrara. Good result obtained also Dino Giarrusso, a novice. Not all the female head of list have been rewarded by the voters. Two out of five remained out, namely Elisabetta Todde and Mariangela Danzì. Marzo Zullo is also 99% sure to be elected.
