Difference between revisions of "Lega Nord"

Latest revision as of 14:13, January 14, 2020

Lega Nord is a conservative political party in Italy. It is led by Matteo Salvini, under whom the party experienced strong electoral success.

History

While once a regionalist and left-of-center party, Lega Nord has since shifted strongly toward the right and tried to appeal to Italian voters throughout the country. Much of this shift occurred shortly before and after Matteo Salvini, who led the effort to expand it from just a regional party,^[2][3] became its leader in 2013. While Lega Nord was in serious trouble when Salvini became party leader, he significantly grew the party to become the country's dominant political force by 2018 through focusing on a nationalist and populist agenda similar to that of U.S. President Donald Trump.^[4]

2018 elections

The party was renamed "The League" for the 2018 general election, and it made massive gains, quadrupling its vote share. While it strongly opposes immigration, it elected the first black senator in Italian history, contrary to left-wing caricatures of it.^[5][6] Lega performed so well that it became the dominant party in its coalition, overtaking Silvio Berlusconi's establishment Forza Italia,^[7] and Salvini had a very real chance of becoming Italy's prime minister.^[8]

In April 2018, during government coalition negotiations, the Northern League performed very well in an election in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia,^[9] and it performed very well in local elections in June, after the creation of a coalition government.^[10] An Italian poll in June 2018 found that Lega Nord had become the most popular party in Italy for the first time.^[11] In the local elections held later that year, the League and its right-of-center alliance performed very well, even taking control of several cities under left-wing control for decades.^[12] By early 2019, the League had doubled in popularity,^[13] and its popularity continued growing.^[14]

Populist coalition

The populist cabinet of the League–M5S coalition

2019 European Parliament election in Italy, in which the League won a nationwide election for the first time ever

See also: Giuseppe Conte

In May 2018, the League and the fellow anti-establishment Five Star Movement agreed to a common platform, one that promoted strongly nationalist and anti-establishment policies.^[15] Both parties allowed their voters to choose whether they approved of the coalition agenda.^[16] Despite this, Italy's establishment president rejected the coalition government as it supported nominating a Euroskeptic finance minister.^[17] However, a few days later, the two parties were able to reach a compromise with Italy's president and finalized their governing coalition.^[18] The new government, Western Europe's first one completely run by populist and anti-establishment parties, was sworn in on June 1, 2018.^[19] The League received several important government positions, including Salvini as Interior Minister and in charge of Italy's immigration policy, and Lorenzo Fontana, a strong pro-life and social conservative advocate, as the minister in charge of family policy, among others.^[20]

With Salvini in charge of Italy's immigration policies, the League showed it was serious about securing Italy's borders.^[21] For example, early in the coalition government, Salvini refused to let a boat carrying over 600 migrants land in Italy as the country shared an undue immigration burden,^[22] and he said he would continue such actions.^[23] By the end of 2018, migrant ships stopped their activities because of Italian pressure.^[24] The coalition announced it would crack down on illegal street vendors, many of whom are migrants.^[25] In July 2018, Salvini blocked a private Italian ship carrying migrants from docking.^[26] He also ordered that benefits for asylum seekers be massively reduced.^[27] In September 2018, Salvini signed a decree which, among other actions, would ban residency permits for humanitarian reasons, increase funding for deportation centers, and removed citizenship from terrorists.^[28] In November 2018, the coalition government announced it would not sign the UN Global Compact on Migration.^[29] Migrant deportations increased 28% in the government's first six months in power,^[30] and in 2018, the level of illegal immigration to Italy fell 80% while it doubled for Spain.^[31] Migration levels continued to dramatically fall,^[32] something confirmed by Frontex data.^[33] The League pushed to make is more difficult for non-EU migrants to join a proposed basic income program supported by the M5S.^[34] In May 2019, Salvini planned a decree to fine migrant boats €5,500 for each migrant they transport to Italy,^[35] and the following month, he formally issued the decree which also included measures protecting the police.^[36] Notably, Salvini began enforcing the law immediately after coming into force, countering a left-wing German migrant captain's attempts to abet illegal immigration to Italy.^[37] Because of funding cuts on pro-migrant organizations that Salvini enacted, those organizations laid off thousands of workers.^[38] In July 2019, Salvini closed what had been the largest migrant center in Europe.^[39]

In August 2018, Salvini announced change Italian identification forms to list one's "mother" and "father", rather than "parent one" and "parent two."^[40] In December 2018, the Italian Education Ministry, controlled by an ally of the League, gave approval to setting up crucifixes and nativity scenes in classrooms.^[41] Salvini promoted gun rights as interior minister,^[42] and the League did the same.^[43] In March 2019, the Italian legislature passed a self-defense law Salvini and the League supported.^[44] Salvini and the League took a confrontational stance toward the European Union.^[45] In April 2019, Salvini announced he would increase police oversight of Islamic cultural centers.^[46] Under Salvini's leadership, crime levels fell an average of 15% from 2018 to 2019.^[47] Helped by Italy's Supreme Court, Salvini worked to strengthen regulations against cannabis in Italy.^[48] Through his conservative policies, Salvini promoted traditional Christian values.^[49]

In July 2019, Italy began increased border security patrols along its border with Slovenia because of increased illegal immigration levels.^[50] Salvini worked to evict migrant illegally living in abandoned buildings.^[51]

The League continued growing in popularity and became the most popular party in the country by 2018.^[52] It continued winning regional elections, including breaking 25 years of left-wing rule in the southern region of Basilicata,^[53] and it performed well in the 2018 local elections.^[54] In the May 2019 European Parliament elections, the League performed very strongly, becoming the largest party in Italy with over 34% of the vote and one of the largest parties in the parliament.^[55] The League performed particularly well in small towns and areas most affected by the migrant crisis.^[56] The League again performed strongly in the local elections in May and June 2019, taking several cities that had been controlled by left-wing parties for decades,^[57] and Tuscany, long a left-wing stronghold, began shifting toward the right.^[58]

The populist coalition ended on September 5, 2019, when a liberal government was sworn in – Salvini attempted to call for new elections, but the M5S and the far-left Italian Democratic Party responded by forming a governing coalition with each other.^[59]

In opposition

The new Democrat–M5S coalition began reinstating status-quo, open borders immigration policies,^[60] and Salvini and the League strongly criticized the new coalition and its globalist policies.^[61] On October 27, 2019, the League secured a historic election victory in the Italian region of Umbria, taking control of the state which had previously been only controlled by center-left, left-wing, and far-left parties.^[62]

By November 2019, public support for the League alone equaled the combined support for the left-wing government coalition parties.^[63]

Policies

Lega Nord takes Euroskeptic positions^[64] and supports leaving the Euro.^[65] It also takes nationalist positions, supporting putting the Italian people first when making policy, as opposed to advancing globalist ideals.^[66] The party takes a skeptical stance on China's Belt and Road Initiative, with Salvini warning against foreign companies "colonizing Italy."^[67]

Lega Nord also takes a strong position against mass migration and Islam,^[68][69] and it supports strong border security actions.^[65] The League also supports enacting tariffs on foreign products.^[70]

Under Salvini, Lega Nord has aligned itself with other like-minded parties and politicians in Europe, including the French National Front led by Marine Le Pen and Party for Freedom led by Geert Wilders.^[7][71] It is highly critical of George Soros.^[72] Antifa and anarchist groups have targeted Lega Nord because of its beliefs.^[73]

Lega Nord supports preserving Italy's traditional Christian culture. Notably, in 2018, the League-controlled government of Lombardy blocked a Muslim association from buying and converting a Christian chapel.^[74] The League is pro-life and led the successful effort to declare Verona a "city in favour of life,"^[75] though some social conservatives have criticized the party, along with other European conservatives, for not pushing hard enough for pro-life policies.^[76] Several members of the League, including Salvini and Italy's family and education ministers, have spoken at the pro-family World Congress of Families.^[77] The League takes tough-on-crime positions and supports the chemical castration of rapists.^[78] The League also opposes left-wing gender ideology.^[79]

See also

• European migrant crisis

References

External links

• Official website