Undaunted by the occasionally violent clashes between young left-wing and right-wing activists in the early 1990s, and the “kill the fascists” messages plastered on Garbatella’s walls, Meloni knocked on his door at the age of 15 and signed up to . Those in the neighborhood with memories of the young Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party emerged from the National Alliance, an offshoot of MSI, say the toxic political atmosphere at the time was formative. “I knew her grandmother,” said Francesca, who was standing in the street next to the former MSI unit. “Yorgia was a very intelligent, determined girl who stayed on her path and never backed down. I will definitely vote for her.” During a rally in Sicily in late August, Meloni said: “I try to be more calm and then they take pictures of me with swollen veins. I’m from Garbatella and every now and then the soul comes out.” Meloni moved to Garbatella with her mother and older sister, Arianna, to be near her grandparents after the siblings accidentally set fire to the apartment they were living in in Rome’s Camilluccia district when they were making a den in the bedroom them filled with toys, snacks and candles for light. She wrote in her book, Io Sono Giorgia (I am Giorgia), that she owes everything to her mother, Anna Paratore, who almost aborted her second pregnancy due to financial concerns and a difficult relationship with her father Meloni, who left the family, leaving. in the Canary Islands on a boat called Cavallo pazzo (Crazy Horse). Meloni described herself as an irritable, defensive child whose determination to fend off her enemies was fueled by a group of boys who wouldn’t let her participate in a beach volleyball match because she was “too fat.” She responded by dieting and eventually joined a volleyball team. The second article of the Italian Constitution is seen painted on a building in Garbatella during the celebrations for the 76th anniversary of the declaration of the Italian Republic. Photo: Gregorio Borgia/AP Valerio’s ex-wife, a stallholder at a market near the Garbatella metro station, was among her teammates. “He remembered that Meloni was devoted to politics and fascinated with the history of the Mussolini period,” he said. In an interview with a French television network during the 1996 Garbatella municipal elections, Meloni described Mussolini as a “good politician”. In more recent years, she has sought to burnish her party’s image, translating political power as a conservative defender of patriotism and saying in a video in August that Italy’s right had “consigned fascism to history” decades ago. Brothers of Italy, which just scored 4% in the 2018 general election, now leads a coalition made up of Matteo Salvini’s far-right League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, which is projected to win a comfortable victory in the 25th poll September. Such a result did not sit well with many in Garbatella, where Roberto Gualtieri, from the center-left Democratic party, won the most votes in the mayoral election last October. However, with left-wing parties so divided in the upcoming election, some in the region are unsure who to support. “Garbatella is historically left-wing, even if left-wing is hard to define these days,” Valerio said. “I would never vote for the right, but the left is fragmented…they have to solve their own issues first before they can deal with ours.” Pino Bocchino, who owns a bar near where Meloni grew up, said: “There are some who will vote right, but not me. Meloni will lead us down a dangerous path.” Giovanni Morelli, who said his mother-in-law lived in the same building as Meloni’s mother, said: “I was watching Meloni and her sister coming home from school. She was tough. But I don’t think I would vote for her, especially with the challenges we face today. What I still don’t understand is why they got rid of Mario Draghi, one of the most respected Italians in the world.” Anna Di Pasquale, who has a sundries stall in the market, has no doubts. “Garbatella was maybe more left-wing when I was a kid, but today there’s more of a mix,” he said. “I’ve only seen Meloni on TV, but I like her as a person. I hope it’s not just talk though. They usually end up rising to power, making a lot of money, and then doing absolutely nothing.”
