The results of Italy's election, which saw a surge in support for the far Right, have created a very disturbing vista according to GUE/NGL MEPs.

Commenting on this week’s fallout as seats continue to be allocated, MEP Eleonora Forenza said concerns are based mostly on the broad support for parties allied firmly to the European Right, including Marine Le Pen.

“Just like the Lega, the Five Star Movement ran an anti-immigrant campaign, capturing, in its post-ideological ambiguity, the social anger deriving from the effects of neoliberal policies. The defeat of the centre-Left is the result of years of neoliberal turns, and support for reforms against workers and the welfare state,” she said.

“In this context of a general shift to the Right, anti-racism and anti-fascism no longer represent constitutional values ​​shared across the elected political spectrum. ‘Power to the People’, in just three months and despite total media ignorance, achieved a result that was small in electoral terms but very important in political terms. This is especially important for the future project of uniting people, struggles, and movements.”

“For the Left, this was a day of monumental failures, but it also offered some clarity about a possible but slow rebirth,” said MEP Barbara Spinelli. “Overall, the Left has been torn apart by this campaign, which, once all the seats are filled, looks likely to deliver the country to Matteo Salvini and a League that has radical xenophobic positions. It has been over ten years that the historical Left has systematically and continuously been losing its “people”, who are now firmly attached to the Five Star Movement or to abstention. ‘Power to the People’, was the only exception, but the Italian centre-Left followed the Right when it came to both economic policy and refugees, courting an electorate that on both issues ultimately opted for the original.”

Curzio Maltese, MEP said it was clear that “Italians, particularly those from the working and middle-class, voted for change. Since the Left in all its elements, starting from the top did not move with the times, the vote of change moved elsewhere.