A 21-meter-tall Christ the Redeemer statue
overlooks the Gulf of
Policastro in southern Italy.
Filippo Maimone owns
a restaurant here.
In 2019, he made the acquaintance
of Giorgia Meloni, chairwoman of
the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia,
at the time averaging only around
three percent of the vote.
Now, she’s Italy’s prime minister.
She made a positive impression
on me at the time.
I realized that, after the
Berlusconi era, she and
her political project
had a future.
Maimone used to vote for
Silvio Berlusconi’s party, the
right-of-center Forza Italia.
But now, he’s gone over to the
‘Brothers of Italy‘, which many
in the country label post-fascist.
He doesn’t believe it poses a
danger to democracy and
says the party officially
moved away from its
glorification of the former
dictator Mussolini long ago.
Maimone claims this alienated
many early followers of the party.
Some in their loyal base are
disappointed because the party’s
not pushing through
their right-wing platform.
But Meloni’s a responsible politician,
so she has to consider
the finances and
the national budget first.
And for that, she needs the
support of the European Union.
Maimone feels that many
left-leaning workers
voted for Giorgia Meloni
because Italy’s left-wing parties
have lost sight of their concerns.
Jobs are one of the most important issues.
Maimone’s chef is less inclined
to warm up to the ideas of
the right-wing nationalist
prime minister.
All politicians promise you
the Earth and the Moon,
but in the end, you
have to manage the problems
of daily life yourself.
I don’t demand that
politicians save our lives,
but if you believe in
something and have ideals,
but never see anything get better,
you lose hope.
And in Italy, we haven't seen
any real changes for the better.
Giorgia Meloni has been
governing Italy since 2022.
Internationally, she portrays a
more moderate stance,
showing support for
NATO and Ukraine.
Critics say it’s a different matter
when it comes to domestic affairs:
she abolished the citizens‘ benefits,
outlawed surrogate motherhood and
led campaigns against
journalists and intellectuals.
Maimone often argues over
politics with his friend Giuseppe.
You lefties only think about
civil rights.
You concentrate
only on issues like those.
You’ve forgotten the workers,
the poorest of society.
You've turned into the party
of the rich and the privileged.
And you, with your slogans:
‘Let’s close the ports‘,
‘No to migrants‘
and ‘Abortion is not a right‘:
you’re constantly attacking
these civil rights.
It might work for now because
people are still honeymooning
with Meloni, and the right-wing
coalition has their support.
But sooner or later,
that honeymoon will be over.
Meloni‘s slogan for the
European Parliament election is:
Italy changes Europe.
It’s a ray of hope for Filippo
but a nightmare for Giuseppe.
And for both, it’ll be
a bone of contention for
a long time to come.