The real stakes for the center-right in the regional elections
How and why there is so much discussion in the center-right in view of the regional elections. Paola Sacchi's note
Dying for Sardinia, as an editorial by Alessandro Sallusti is titled today in Il Giornale , no. But perhaps, it must be added, not even dying by repeating the pattern of the ugly mess of Terni, the city of steelworks, second in Umbria where FdI imposed, with an automatism between national balances of power changed in its favor and local votes, its own exponent who, however, did not make it unlike the outgoing mayor Leonardo Latini of the League in 2018. The outsider Stefano Bandecchi won and the center-right ended up in opposition with the center-left, and the League outside the city council. The Umbrian case, although not very distant in time, certainly cannot be compared to the much larger game of the complex risk of the Regionals which will open in February with Sardinia and concern Piedmont, Abruzzo, Basilicata, Umbria itself in October and then Veneto in 2025.
But the mess in Terni still remains as a small, significant warning for the center-right not to divide and for the majority party FdI not to make automatisms between voting and national polls and voting, moods of the territories with respect to the protagonists in the field. The centre-right will have to find the not simple "square" to maintain a unity which however does not penalize anyone, despite the changed balance of power in politics, nor FdI the main party which with Tommaso Foti, group leader in the Chamber, recalls the sacrifice already made when FdI renounced the reconfirmation for Nello Musumeci in Sicily, nor the League which could hardly agree to renounce at the same time Christian Solinas, head of the Sardinian Action Party, an autonomist force, in harmony with the Northern League's DNA, in Sardinia, and even see it as uncertain the possibility of another candidacy for Luca Zaia, the plebiscite ace governor of the League in Veneto.
Beyond the solutions that are being sought and which both Matteo Salvini, Antonio Tajani and Giorgia Meloni's party are optimistic about, the ongoing negotiations focus on the political need for the centre-right to avoid, faced with a torn minority, to form the opposition themselves. Also because tests of strength, overwhelming results that would reduce the allies, already downsized in politics, to ancillary roles would not be a guarantee for the prime minister himself and the stability of the government.
Giovambattista Fazzolari, the influential undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of FdI, in an interview with Il Corriere della sera the day before yesterday spoke about rebalancing the balance of power in the majority at the Regional elections. But Edoardo Rixi, Ligurian big league member, Salvini's deputy minister at the Ministry of Transport, invites us not to make automatic arrangements between national and local votes which have more complex logic: "I don't know if the Sardinians would appreciate the change in the governor's race. There is a risk of alienating the electorate. And instead together we all want to win." And the deputy secretary of the League, Andrea Crippa, had underlined that FdI already expresses the central national role of the Presidency of the Council.
Salvini, whose line is to confirm the candidacy of the incumbents for the Regions to vote (Sardinia with Solinas Lega, Piedmont with Alberto Cirio FI, Abruzzo with Marco Marsilio FdI, Basilicata with Vito Bardi FI, Umbria with Donatella Tesei Lega) has however said that he will make the decision with everyone in the coalition. Although he added the other evening that if the leavers who have worked well are no longer wanted, "we must explain why". Message evidently addressed to FdI. And yesterday the League lowered the bill for the third term of governors, which would allow Zaia to run again.
It is significant that the first signatory is Alberto Stefani, secretary of the Venetian League, president of the bicameral commission for fiscal federalism. Could the League renounce Solinas in favor of Paolo Truzzu, mayor of Cagliari, on which FdI stands, if the entire majority gives the OK for the third term? Despite the rumors, yesterday seems to have ended without an agreement. Which, beyond the indiscretions, can be clearly deduced from a note from the League according to which yesterday "there was no Salvini lunch with other leaders nor any meetings to talk about administration".
Salvini will be in Palermo today for an important hearing of the OpenArms trial in which he will speak in the Ucciardone bunker courtroom. The League, however, continues the note, "confirms optimism and is sure that the center-right will find an agreement, as has always happened and as already underlined by Salvini". And, in the meantime, if the picture were to change, starting with Sardinia, FI immediately raises a firm line, making it known with its national spokesperson Raffaele Nevi, deputy group leader in the Chamber, that it does not intend to give up Bardi in Basilicata at all. A complex risk that requires a strong amalgam of the center-right leadership while respecting the plurality of the coalition which is not just attributable to relationships between numbers. Even more so when we talk about voting on territories.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/centrodestra-regionali-2024/ on Fri, 12 Jan 2024 06:58:01 +0000.