Giorgia Meloni Likely to Become Italy's First Female PM
2022-09-27
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1Results from elections Sunday suggest that Giorgia Meloni will likely become Italy's first woman prime minister.
2Meloni, age 45, is the leader of Brothers of Italy, a conservative political party.
3An alliance of conservative political parties won the most votes in the election.
4Brothers of Italy is a member of the alliance.
5It won the most votes -- almost 26 percent -- of any party in the election.
6Meloni grew up in a working-class area of Rome.
7Her father left the family when she was born, and she was raised by her mother.
8She won her first local election at age 21 and, in 2008, became the youngest-ever minister in Italy at age 31.
9She was a member of a conservative group created by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi before she left it and co-founded Brothers of Italy in 2012.
10Meloni compares Brothers of Italy to the Conservative Party in Britain and the Republican Party in the U.S.
11The Italian press has compared Meloni to Margaret Thatcher, who was the first woman prime minister of Britain.
12Meloni supports supplying Ukraine with weapons to defend against Russia's invasion.
13On migration, she said she wants a naval blockade to stop migrant boats from leaving North Africa.
14She has said she might place same-sex marriage under review.
15Meloni says women have to get to the top by merit, and she is against rules that would say how many women should be in parliament.
16Italy's election system rewards alliances.
17Votes for each member of the alliance are added together, while parties who are not in an alliance have their votes counted individually.
18At age 15, Meloni joined a local section of the Italian Socialist Movement, or MSI for short.
19MSI was created in 1946 by supporters of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
20In the 1990s, MSI joined a more central conservative group under Berlusconi.
21Meloni said the conservative Italian Right has clearly condemned the anti-Jewish laws and suppression of democracy that were part of fascism.
22Supporters in Spain, France, and Hungary all praised Meloni's election.
23Enrico Letta, leader of Italy's Democratic Party, said, "today is a sad day for Italy and Europe, tough days are ahead of us."
24In a victory speech Monday, Meloni said, "If we are called to govern this nation, we will do it for everyone, we will do it for all Italians and we will do it with the aim of uniting the people."
25Meloni is not expected to become prime minister until the end of October.
26I'm Andrew Smith.
1Results from elections Sunday suggest that Giorgia Meloni will likely become Italy's first woman prime minister. 2Meloni, age 45, is the leader of Brothers of Italy, a conservative political party. 3An alliance of conservative political parties won the most votes in the election. Brothers of Italy is a member of the alliance. It won the most votes -- almost 26 percent -- of any party in the election. 4Meloni grew up in a working-class area of Rome. Her father left the family when she was born, and she was raised by her mother. She won her first local election at age 21 and, in 2008, became the youngest-ever minister in Italy at age 31. She was a member of a conservative group created by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi before she left it and co-founded Brothers of Italy in 2012. 5Meloni compares Brothers of Italy to the Conservative Party in Britain and the Republican Party in the U.S. The Italian press has compared Meloni to Margaret Thatcher, who was the first woman prime minister of Britain. 6Meloni supports supplying Ukraine with weapons to defend against Russia's invasion. On migration, she said she wants a naval blockade to stop migrant boats from leaving North Africa. She has said she might place same-sex marriage under review. Meloni says women have to get to the top by merit, and she is against rules that would say how many women should be in parliament. 7Italy's election system rewards alliances. Votes for each member of the alliance are added together, while parties who are not in an alliance have their votes counted individually. 8At age 15, Meloni joined a local section of the Italian Socialist Movement, or MSI for short. MSI was created in 1946 by supporters of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. In the 1990s, MSI joined a more central conservative group under Berlusconi. 9Meloni said the conservative Italian Right has clearly condemned the anti-Jewish laws and suppression of democracy that were part of fascism. 10Supporters in Spain, France, and Hungary all praised Meloni's election. Enrico Letta, leader of Italy's Democratic Party, said, "today is a sad day for Italy and Europe, tough days are ahead of us." 11In a victory speech Monday, Meloni said, "If we are called to govern this nation, we will do it for everyone, we will do it for all Italians and we will do it with the aim of uniting the people." 12Meloni is not expected to become prime minister until the end of October. 13I'm Andrew Smith. 14Andrew Smith adapted this story for VOA Learning English from reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters. 15________________________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17co-found -v. to create or form an organization with one other person 18migration -n. moving from one country to another usually in search of work 19merit -n. a quality that is considered good or valuable 20reward -n. money, or some other thing that is offered and give to someone who has done something that is generally considered good 21condemn -n. to denounce; to say in a clear way that something is bad or wrong 22_________________________________________________________ 23We want to hear from you. 24We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 25Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.