Italian Opposition Struggles to Unite Against Meloni Amid Policy Divisions
Italian opposition leaders Giuseppe Conte and Elly Schlein are struggling to unite against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, divided over leadership ambitions and foreign policy on Ukraine.
Nearly four years after coming to power, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is facing growing public discontent, yet her political rivals are struggling to agree on a unified leader and a coherent platform, particularly regarding foreign policy issues such as the ongoing war in Ukraine, according to an analysis published by the Financial Times.
At the center of this internal opposition struggle are two key figures: former Prime Minister and Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte, and Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein. Both seek to head a broad center-left bloc ahead of the upcoming general elections, but their disagreements encompass not only the choice of a prime ministerial candidate but also the fundamental policies the coalition would pursue if it came to power.
Conte, who served as Italy's prime minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, has signaled a desire for a significant shift in Rome's foreign policy. Speaking at a Five Star Movement event in Milan, he declared that everything needs to change, starting with foreign policy, and reiterated his opposition to continued Italian military assistance to Ukraine.
This stance brings renewed attention to a controversial episode from his past. At the height of the health crisis in 2020, Conte welcomed a large military-humanitarian delegation from Russia. Alongside medical personnel and equipment, the deployment included Russian specialized units. While the Italian government reported at the time that the mission included technical support teams, security experts warned that the operation provided Moscow with valuable intelligence-gathering opportunities.
Now, Conte seeks to return to the political mainstream, but Schlein stands in his path. The Democratic Party under her leadership consistently polls ahead of the Five Star Movement, leading her faction to view itself as the core force of the opposition bloc. Meanwhile, Conte insists on running as the bloc's candidate for prime minister.
The Battle Over Leadership and Ukraine
According to the FT, both leaders recognize that uniting the opposition parties is essential to avoid repeating the outcome of 2022, when a fractured center-left allowed Meloni's right-wing coalition to secure a decisive majority. However, forging a consensus remains fraught with obstacles.
Schlein advocates for hammering out a joint policy platform before holding a primary election to select a prime ministerial candidate. Conte prefers to reverse the sequence, demanding that the leader of the bloc be chosen first. Additional potential partners include former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva party, which is viewed with suspicion by many Five Star supporters, as well as the Greens and Left Alliance.
The most acute division centers on Ukraine. Conte vehemently opposes sending further arms to Kyiv and has made this a non-negotiable condition for entering a coalition. Within the Democratic Party, the picture is more complex: some members hold pacifist views, while others regard robust support for Ukraine as a cornerstone of European security. Senior party officials recently reaffirmed that military aid to Kyiv remains a critical stumbling block in negotiations with Conte.
Pressure from the Right
These opposition fractures persist even as Meloni's government grapples with public criticism over economic pressures, the cost of living, and stagnant real wages. A YouTrend poll conducted between August 31 and September 3 among 800 Italian adults found that 53% of respondents believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, compared to 31% who think otherwise. 59% rated the government negatively, while 36% gave a positive assessment, with the survey carrying a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
Concurrently, Meloni faces a new challenge from the right: former general Roberto Vannacci, whose National Future party aims to siphon conservative voters away from the ruling coalition. In recent regional elections in Calabria, Meloni's alliance retained control of the region, while Vannacci's candidate secured roughly 10% of the vote, cementing the new party's presence on the national stage.
As the political landscape shifts, Meloni's government is also advancing electoral reform proposals designed to grant a significant seat bonus to the largest pre-election coalition. For the opposition, this legislative push intensifies the urgency to unite behind a single candidate and a shared platform—precisely the areas where Conte, Schlein, and their allies continue to clash.
