On eve of election, Italy braces for potential far-right win
The Hindu
The campaign, sparked by Draghi's downfall in July, wrapped up on Friday, giving Italians a day of reprieve as electioneering is banned until the vote
Italians on Saturday braced for seismic change, on the eve of an election forecast to hand Italy the most right-wing government since World War II.
Out with internationally respected Mario Draghi and in – polls say – with Eurosceptic Giorgia Meloni, head of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, who is widely tipped to become the country's first woman to head a government.
"The country is eager for a change, a new face," Wolfango Piccoli of the London-based political risk consultancy Teneo told AFP.
Italy is battling a series of crises, from rampant inflation and extreme weather events linked to climate change, to an energy crisis aggravated by the war in Ukraine.
The campaign, sparked by Draghi's downfall in July, wrapped up on Friday, giving Italians a day of reprieve as electioneering is banned until the vote.
People who spoke to AFP in Rome on Saturday said they were unsure the day before the election as the latest polls show that the Brothers of Italy party is likely to win and form a government.
"I am worried by the fact that the polls have the right-wing as the winner, especially Giorgia Meloni," said Maria Tasca, a 27-year-old student originally from Sicily.