EXPLAINER: Italian election only part of picking government

ROME (AP) — Sunday’s parliamentary election will determine who governs next in Italy. But it might take weeks before a coalition government is actually in place to run the major industrial economy and key NATO member.

Opinion polls indicate that voters might elect the first far-right premier of the post-World War II era — and the first woman to lead an Italian government — in the person of Giorgia Meloni.

Given Italy’s fractured political spectrum, no single party stands much chance of winning enough seats to govern alone. Right-wing and right-leaning centrists forged a campaign pact that could propel Meloni into power. The center-left did not agree on teaming up with left-leaning populists or centrists, which is a big disadvantage in Italian elections.

WHY HAVE ELECTIONS NOW?

Elections were due in spring 2023, when Parliament's five-year term was supposed to end. But populist leaders saw their parties' support steadily slipping both in opinion polls and in various mayoral and gubernatorial races since the last national election in 2018.

In July, 5-Star Movement head Giuseppe Conte, right-wing League leader Matteo Salvini and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi yanked their support for Premier Mario Draghi during a confidence vote. That triggered the premature demise of the wide-ranging coalition government and paved the way for early elections.

Meloni's meteoric rise in opinion polls made the trio of populist leaders nervous about waiting until spring to face voters. Her far-right Brothers of Italy, a party with neo-fascist roots, won just over 4% in the 2018 election. Polls tab the party as possibly taking as much as 25% on Sunday. Salvini and Berlusconi are now in an electoral alliance with Meloni.

FEWER LAWMAKERS

Many lawmakers won’t be reelected — regardless of...