Lovers of Italy
Is the Italian government the new Temptation Island?
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There were times when politicians had respect for the role they held, they used to behave properly to set the example for the people who voted for them and believed in them. It looks like politicians used to feel honored by the trust that their Countries were giving them. To someone who was not alive to witness it, it seems that at the time dignity was a word that ruled both their public and private lives. Nowadays with social media, we know everything about the world’s leader’s day-to-day private lives, in the full populist style, the current government tends to make its private life public, to resonate with the daily struggles of the common citizen.
One of the most famous characters in the history of Italian politics is Aldo Moro, a former prime minister who would always wear a suit, even in summer when he brought his daughter to the beach. When people asked him why, he would answer that he was representing the Italian people, therefore he had to be always presentable and respectable.
During Meloni’s government, Italy has witnessed three major, scandalous, public separations between politicians who held high government positions. The first was the end of the relationship between the Prime Minister and a journalist, who is the father of their daughter after he began flirting with a colleague on live television. The second one was between Meloni’s sister Arianna Meloni -secretary of the party Brothers of Italy at the lead of the country- and Francesco Lollobrigida, father of their two daughters, also known as the Minister of Agriculture of his sister-in-law's government. But the biggest scandal so far is the extortion committed by the ex-lover of the recently former Minister of Culture.
The issue itself does not concern the fact that, like all humans, politicians can have a complicated private life, the problem is how public their personal lives have become: lately watching the news on an Italian channel seems to be awfully close to watching an episode of Temptation Island.
When both the press and the citizens are more focused on the personal lives of the countries' leaders in opposition to the policies and the relevant news around the world, misinformation starts to spread. It appears as if the media are following the clickbait news, instead of bringing valuable data to the attention of the public. To give an example, on the 4th of September, the Italian national television spent 17 minutes on the case of Sangiuliano, while on the 9th of September they discussed on-air the Report on European Competitiveness by Mario Draghi only for 1 minute and 21 seconds.
Following populism guidelines, some have suggested that knowing about the personal lives of our politicians can help to make the people feel closer to them, and more relatable, and consequently more citizens might be interested in politics and get involved since it seems a reachable career path and something that they can easily understand. Also, it is known that the direction of populism can increase significantly the number of voters, however, there is the risk of focusing on big title news rather than talking about real problems. Populism is an ideology characterized by the idea that politics are a fight between the people and the elite, therefore populism tends to represent the masses by exalting their values, desires, frustration, and collective feeling. For instance, Giorgia Meloni asked the people to be called simply “Giorgia”, and the speech saying “I am a mother, I am a woman, I am a christian” became viral, she uses very simple and charged language, dialect, and jokes to gather attention and connect with the citizens.
By using these populist strategies, Meloni is sending a clear signal to the public that she is one of the people, one of them, who will be on their side during the fight against the so-called "elites" and lead their causes. Moreover, the Prime Minister makes large use of the populist concept of simplifying complicated issues, such as immigration and the decisions of the judiciary. But when sharing the privacy of their own life to be closer to the people become too much? The question remains, going all in with the only goal of chasing the people's consent will show good results in the long term? I guess we will find out in 2027 at the end of the 5 years mandate.
In conclusion, while transparency in politics is fundamental, the persistent scrutiny of politicians' private lives, mainly driven by media sensationalism, is distorting the public’s perception of current events. The focus on personal scandals and clickbait news is distracting from important policy discussions and worsening the quality of information reaching the public. Italy’s recent political dramas during Meloni’s populist government highlight this shift, where private indiscretions are the main topic on national TV, with the goal to paint the Prime Minister as "one of you".
It's time to bring dignity back to the table and to return to a political climate where leaders are respected for their public service, and their personal lives remain just that: personal.
Karina Piccinato
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