Italy weighs results as Meloni's government sets longevity record

ROME, Sept 3, (AP): In a country where governments are famously short-lived, the perceived success of Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has often been attributed to her survival skills rather than her accomplishments. Meloni’s conservative administration became Italy’s longest-serving uninterrupted government since World War II at 1,413 days on Thursday, surpassing the record set by the late Silvio Berlusconi between 2001 and 2005.

Meloni and her party will celebrate the feat on Friday with a huge preelection rally in the southern city of Bari. Meloni, straightforward and pragmatic, has managed to stave off the crises and defections that have toppled past governments. The results - or lack thereof - from this uncharacteristic period of stability may ultimately define Meloni’s legacy, and her odds of winning another term.

"If you have five years in office and not much to show when you go back to voters, it can weigh against you,” said Nathalie Tocci, an international relations expert and professor at Johns Hopkins University. When Meloni took office in October 2022, she was Italy's first female prime minister. Her government was also the first led by a party with neo-fascist roots, and European allies and financial markets viewed Meloni with unease.

But Meloni has largely governed practically. She maintained constant support for Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion, worked within European institutions and embraced fiscal discipline. Her relationship with US President Donald Trump became one of her most notable foreign policy assets, at least initially.

While political instability has reshaped governments elsewhere in Europe - including the United Kingdom and France - Meloni has kept the same coalition in place since taking office, a rarity in modern Italian politics and a central pillar of her reelection bid. "Meloni has reaped a part of what she sowed, because I know few people so determined, so hardworking, so precise, so meticulous, who have sacrificed both their human and private spheres in order to serve the institutions,” Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday.

"For this she is now reaping exactly what she deserves in terms of international credibility,” he said, speaking from a room in the ministry filled with photos of former ministers. "She is not reaping the same on the Italian level.” Heading toward the next election, due by the end of 2027, there is no longer any debate that Meloni can govern. The question is whether voters believe her government delivered enough to deserve another term.