Meloni celebrates the government’s record-breaking longevity and prepares her next moves on taxation and security

Everything is ready in Bari for the big celebration organised by Fratelli d’Italia to mark the record for longevity that the Government will achieve tomorrow, when Giorgia Meloni will surpass Silvio Berlusconi’s and reaches the 1,413-day milestone at Palazzo Chigi. This sets the stage for the upcoming general election campaign, centred on the two key issues the Prime Minister had already highlighted at her press conference at the start of the year: growth and security.

‘The most stable government, a stronger Italia’ reads the 28-page brochure, featuring 23 headings, released yesterday by Fdi to highlight the achievements since October 2022. These range from employment (with a record high of 63.2 per cent and unemployment at 5.8 per cent) to taxation, with the IRPEF reform and the reduction in the tax wedge (“over 21 billion injected directly into Italians’ pockets”), from the unblocking of contracts to the spread plummeting to less than 80 basis points, from overtaking France in government bond yields to an 80 per cent reduction in migrant landings from January to July compared with 2023. Not to mention the Mattei Plan, ‘zero tolerance for crime’ and the Caivano model. Nor are the increase in the National Health Fund from 126 billion in 2022 to nearly 143 billion in 2026, measures for families, support for women who suffer violence and the criminalisation of femicide, the new cinema law and the one on AI, the 2.7 per cent increase in exports from 2022 to 2025 (to over 643 billion), the booming tourism sector, ‘the revival of agriculture’, reforms to schools and universities, the single Special Economic Zone (ZES), and the inclusion of sport in the Constitution.

But Meloni knows that in the Apulian capital, where 10,000 people are expected, she cannot afford to be overly triumphant. The document highlights efforts on energy, a stopgap measure compared to fuel prices and gas prices, which continue to rise. There is a brief mention of the centres in Albania – a flop, yet one on which the Prime Minister has no intention of giving up, pointing out that Italia has ‘paved the way’ in Europe. There is only a passing reference to the recently concluded NRRP, the outcome of which is causing concern amongst businesses. There is no mention whatsoever of the failed reforms – the justice reform rejected by the referendum, the prime ministerial reform left on the back burner, the hollowing out of regional autonomy, and the ‘Roma Capitale’ project running aground – nor of the electoral reform that is draining, and will continue to drain, so much energy.

But Meloni will refer to the new voting rules to celebrate the success that is most dear to her: stability. The value on which she has staked everything and which, she is convinced, has enabled Italia to weather the storms of the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran with its head held high. This is despite the failure of her other gamble: that concerning her relationship with Donald Trump, which has instead proved to be a harbinger of storm clouds, amid tariffs and insults. Global turmoil remains more than threatening, whilst domestic challenges are compounded by competition on the right from General Vannacci and turmoil amongst her allies, whom she hosted at her home on Monday for the recovery summit: in Bari, the League’s secretary Matteo Salvini and Forza Italia’s leader Antonio Tajani will join via video link, whilst the president of Noi Moderati Maurizio Lupi will be present in person. Raffaele Fitto, Meloni’s staunch ally in Brussels, will also speak.

The Fdi leader, who will continue to fine-tune her speech today, wants to dismantle the ‘left’s counter-narrative’. ‘In years when the only thing missing was a plague of locusts – she jokes with her supporters – we have shown real commitment and achieved tangible results. This is far from merely ‘staying afloat’.” Party members are expecting announcements on security, energy and taxes ahead of the budget bill, such as extending the scope of the personal income tax cut and a one-off tax exemption on thirteenth-month bonuses. The EU’s flexibility on energy and defence investments is helping. And there is strong hope of exiting the EU’s excessive deficit procedure: for the underdog from Garbatella, it would be yet another medal to pin on his chest. The target is spring 2027. Tomorrow, in effect, the race will begin.