News Politics

Meloni vs Schlein: Italy premier and opposition leader to face off in TV duel

By: Wanted in Rome

Date:

12 May, 2024

Televised debate to come ahead of EU elections.

Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the right-wing Fratelli d'Italia (FdI) party, and the leader of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) Elly Schlein, are to meet in a televised debate on 23 May.

The TV duel, scheduled two weeks before the European elections, will take place on the RAI 1 talk show Porta a Porta hosted by veteran journalist Bruno Vespa.

Meloni and Schlein, both of whom are running as candidates in the EU elections, are expected to debate key issues including employment and safety in the workplace, healthcare and migration.

It will be the first time that two female political leaders go head to head on television in Italy, according to the state broadcaster RAI.

The two-way showdown has been criticised by opposition parties including the populist Movimento 5 Stelle, led by former premier Giuseppe Conte, and the centrist Azione of Carlo Calenda.

Riccardo Magi of the liberal Più Europa party slammed the Meloni-Schlein debate as an "out of tune duet" in "violation of the law", saying: "Either there is a debate between all the forces in the field, or the confrontation between the leader of the PD and the premier should not take place."

Photo credit: paparazzza / Shutterstock.com.