Italian PM Giorgia Meloni to contest EU Parliament elections

Italian PM Giorgia Meloni has said she will contest EU Parliament elections (Photo: AFP)

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said she will contest the upcoming European Parliament elections.

The European Parliament, the lawmaking body of the 27-member bloc European Union (EU), is slated to have elections on June 6-9.

While Meloni has said she will contest the polls, her run will be a symbolic one as she will be required to resign immediately as the Member of European Parliament (MEP) in case she wins as the EU rules do not allow a sitting minister in any country’s government to be an MEP.

Meloni’s move is seen as an attempt to boost her party, Brothers of Italy, within Italy and across Europe. In the 2022 general elections, the party topped with around 26% votes. Surveys have shown that the party is pulling similar support for EU polls, according to AFP.

Meloni pitches herself as leader of European conservatives

With her candidacy in the EU polls, Meloni has pitched herself as the leader of conservatives across Europe.

Melon has said that her party, Brothers of Italy, seeks to replicate their national policies in Europe.

“We want to do in Europe exactly what we did in Italy on September 25, 2022 — creating a majority that brings together the forces of the right to finally send the left into opposition, even in Europe,” said Meloni at a party conference in the city of Pescara as she kickstarted the party’s campaign for the EU polls.

Meloni said she is contesting the EU polls as she sees herself as the leader of European conservatives and wants to “have a decisive role in changing the course of European politics”.

“I’m doing it because I want to ask Italians if they are satisfied with the work we are doing in Italy and that we’re doing in Europe…I’m doing it because in addition to being president of Brothers of Italy I’m also the leader of the European conservatives who want to have a decisive role in changing the course of European politics,” said Meloni, as per AFP.

Meloni expected to resign if she wins

If she wins the EU polls, Meloni is expected to resign as EU rolls bar a person holding a ministerial post in a member state’s government from being an MEP.

In such a case, the runner-up to Meloni will be elected to the European Parliament in her place.

Like Meloni, her ally Antonio Tajani of the centrist Forza Italia and opposition Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein are also contesting the EU polls, but all three are expected to resign in case they win, as per Reuters. They are “expected to give up their seats, making way for runner-up candidates” in case they win, as per the report.