Meloni is the latest major Italian political figure to announce his intention to run in June’s elections, and his decision appears intended to use his personal popularity to boost his party’s chances in the European elections.
A spokesperson for the European Parliament told POLITICO that if Meloni were to gain a seat in the European Parliament, she would have to resign from her position – a highly unlikely scenario.
Meloni’s move is not an uncommon strategy among Italian leaders and politicians. In 2009, then-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ran as his party’s main candidate in the European elections and remained as head of the Italian government after his party finished first in the elections. Matteo Renzi did the same thing five years later.
Meloni’s party already leads the latest polls in Italy and is expected to win 27.2 percent of the vote, ahead of the center-left PD (20.3 percent) and the Five Star Movement (16.8 percent). .
Elly Schlein, leader of the PD, and Antonio Tajani, current Minister of Foreign Affairs, from the conservative Forza Italia party, have launched the race for the European Parliament.
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