Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni has celebrated a milestone for her government BARI, Italy -- Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni celebrated her government's milestone longevity at a rally Friday of supporters in the southern city of Bari, arguing that four years of political stability have strengthened Italy at home and abroad. Her administration has become the longest-serving single government of Italy’s republican era, reaching 1,414 consecutive days in office and surpassing the 1,412-day record set by Silvio Berlusconi ’s second government from 2001 to 2005. Speaking to supporters, Meloni cast the record as evidence of the strength and cohesion of her right-wing coalition.
She credited her coalition with boosting employment, supporting families and businesses, managing public finances and restoring Italy’s credibility abroad. In one of the most personal moments of the speech, Meloni reflected on the challenges of governing and fighting resistance to change. Glancing at the screen, Meloni answered briefly before returning to her speech.
She made three phone calls,” she told supporters, drawing laughter from the crowd. The rally highlighted a central argument Meloni is expected to make ahead of the next election in 2027: that stability has allowed her government to achieve results and credibility abroad. Vera Capperucci, a professor of history of European political parties at Rome’s LUISS University, called the Bari event a “necessary act,” noting the government’s defining characteristic has been its foreign policy.
The government's achievement caps a political transformation that has seen the Italian leader move from outsider to establishment figure since becoming Italy’s first female prime minister in 2022. Initially viewed cautiously by some European allies and financial markets because of her party’s postwar neo-fascist roots, she maintained support for Ukraine, worked within European institutions and cultivated close ties with Western allies. Migration has provided another example of how positions once criticized by opponents have moved into the European mainstream, Meloni said.
In her Bari speech, she defended her government’s approach on curbing migration flows, citing measures including Italy’s controversial Albania migration centers. Critics counter that Italy’s longstanding problems, including weak productivity growth, low salaries and inefficiencies in public services, remain largely unresolved. Among supporters gathered in Bari, the longevity record itself was viewed as an achievement.
Marco Macrì, a 34-year-old Forza Italia supporter from Alliste, a small town near Lecce, said Meloni had helped hold together the center-right coalition that emerged after Berlusconi’s death. The durability of Meloni’s coalition has been a rarity in postwar Italy, where governments have often fallen before the end of their mandates. No administration has completed a full five-year term without interruption.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
