Governing with the extreme right will be a balancing act for South Tyrol’s People’s Party.
Innsbruck (OTS) – Arno Kompatscher’s third and final term in office is likely to be the most difficult. For him and for South Tyrol.
South Tyrol’s Governor Arno Kompatscher (SVP) has given himself more than a month, after all, he is facing the most difficult government formation in the history of South Tyrol. Although the South Tyrolean People’s Party has recently led a center-right coalition with the Lega, a government with the post-fascist Fratelli of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the right-wing Lega and La Civica is a balancing act for the liberal politician Kompatscher. Also in terms of popular politics. Despite Meloni’s positive signals of autonomy, the Italian right always wanted to curtail South Tyrol’s autonomy through “Italianization”.
As in 2019, Kompatscher will therefore put central questions out of contention in a catalog of values: for him, these include tolerance, openness, a rejection of any form of exclusion and discrimination, and a clear commitment to Europe. Nevertheless, governing in a five-party coalition will not be easy, because for the first time the SVP also has to coordinate with a German-speaking partner. What is probably easiest with the Freedom Party is that they push vehemently into the government and are the “cheapest” to get. However, Kompatscher and Co. will be confronted with a strengthened popular political protest opposition right from the start.
Internal conflicts, open personnel issues and the drop to 34.5 percent in the state elections are also eating away at the SVP’s self-image. The collective party that wants to politically represent all interest groups is history and no longer the glue of the German-speaking minority. Instability poses the greatest danger to South Tyrol. Not only for autonomy, but also for cross-border cooperation in the Euregio.
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