SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Italy's first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, just set a new record by leading the longest-lasting government in Italy's history. Years ago, she rose to power as a far-right challenger. Now Meloni faces a new opponent, an outsider who is even further right. Megan Williams reports from Rome.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ROBERTO VANNACCI: (Speaking Italian).
MEGAN WILLIAMS, BYLINE: That's Roberto Vannacci, a former army general and military attache, in Moscow last month warning that if Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is ready to lose the election, he says, I'm ready to win it. Vannacci is leading a new hard-right nationalist party called Futuro Nazionale - National Future. He's called gay people not normal. His party says abortion is not a right. And he wants Italy's same-sex civil unions scrapped. His message to right-wing voters is, essentially, Meloni isn't conservative enough.
LORENZO PREGLIASCO: So Meloni is now having what she feared the most - that is, an opposition from the right which can basically speak the language of her electorate.
WILLIAMS: Pollster Lorenzo Pregliasco. And the challenge comes just as Meloni marks a remarkable milestone. On Friday, her government reached 1,413 consecutive days, overtaking Silvio Berlusconi's second government as the longest-lasting in the history of the Italian republic. In a country that's burned through 68 governments since World War II, that's no small feat, especially for a politician who came to power sounding like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER GIORGIA MELONI: (Speaking in Italian).
WILLIAMS: "I am Giorgia. I'm a woman. I'm a mother. I'm Italian. I'm Christian." A rant so catchy, it became a dance remix.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IO SONO GIORGIA (GIORGIA MELONI REMIX)")
MELONI: (Speaking in Italian).
WILLIAMS: But in office, combativeness gave way to caution. After years of railing against the European Union, Meloni kept Italy firmly inside its massive post-COVID recovery program, respected EU fiscal rules, and dropped talk of challenging the euro. Unlike her coalition partner, Matteo Salvini, Meloni's backed Ukraine. Economist Veronica De Romanis says Meloni has steered clear of bigger reforms, but that caution has come at a cost to the country.
VERONICA DE ROMANIS: Once you try to change the budget, that means losing political consensus, losing votes.
WILLIAMS: So Meloni largely hasn't. Her government has brought down the deficit, but growth is stuck around half a percent. And despite Italy's world-class companies and technology, overall productivity is weak, its debt among Europe's highest, youth unemployment soaring with half of women here outside the workforce.
DE ROMANIS: We are again one of the country within the European Union that is growing the least.
WILLIAMS: That stagnation gives newcomer Vannacci another opening.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: A slice (ph) of the votes that she received, which were protest votes - voters that thought that finally somebody would introduce radical measures to solve what they think are the problems of the country - remained disappointed. And this is exactly the public to which Vannacci tries to speak (ph).
WILLIAMS: Four years ago, Meloni could campaign as an outsider, blaming the parties that had governed before her. Next year, she'll have to own the record. Vannacci won't and can make a pitch Italian voters have repeatedly bought before - I'm new. Try me. Meloni's party is strong, but not strong enough to govern alone.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Meloni doesn't have an absolute majority. She needs partners to rule the country. So Vannacci may be needed in order to build a coalition.
WILLIAMS: Especially if the divided center-left opposition pulls together.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VANNACCI: (Speaking Italian).
WILLIAMS: So the man attacking Meloni hard from her right could also be the very man she needs to stay in power. For NPR News, I'm Megan Williams in Rome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.