“Reflection” and “consistency.” These are the words that came up in every speech made yesterday in the Transatlantic of Montecitorio, by the Fdi deputies and by their allies who are trying to understand which path Giorgia Meloni will take now.
The “reflection” is the one announced by the premier in the outburst speech made immediately after the secret ballot vote that rejected the Fdi amendment to introduce a softened form of preferences. It will start from the more than thirty snipers who struck on Tuesday; where it will lead, she must also find out. Having taken the vote she did not expect, she entertained the temptation to respond – Sergio Mattarella permitting – by bringing the country to early elections. It lasted a short time. The head of government, those who spoke to her assure, has no intention of going to the Quirinale to open a pre-crisis. The official reading is that it was a vote against preferences, not against the executive. The first step of Fdi, however, was towards Roberto Vannacci, in the name of “consistency.” And this too is a response to the “betrayal” of the day before.
VOTE WITH THE TEAR
Brothers of Italy yesterday voted for the amendment of the Vannaccian Edoardo Ziello to reintroduce preferences. A text that was rejected by the chamber, with 233 votes against and 139 in favor, and among those who voted to reject it were also deputies from Lega and Forza Italia. The Meloni supporters knew that this way the majority would split again, even if with less disruptive effects (this time there was no government imprimatur on the amendment). And they were aware that the text would not pass, since the left had committed to rejecting any amendment presented by Futuro Nazionale. But they went straight ahead anyway. On the direct indication of the premier, who – her people say – sent a clear message: “On this thing I put my face on the line and we must not lose it.”
A choice that widened the distance with the allies. During the breaks in parliamentary work, the majority groups yesterday were strictly separated based on party affiliation, with Galeazzo Bignami, Giovanni Donzelli and Francesco Lollobrigida engaged in a long discussion before the voting resumed. “They will invent something else very soon,” meanwhile commented a Forza Italia deputy.
That it does not end here is certain. The path of “consistency” on the electoral law will continue in the Senate. Where President Ignazio La Russa immediately recalled that “what is voted in one branch of parliament can be changed in the other branch” and that if that amendment were presented in Palazzo Madama, given the different regulation, it would be voted by open ballot, making sniper ambushes impossible.
Electoral law, Vannacci presents the amendment on preferences: this one also rejected
The Chamber floor rejected by secret ballot the amendment of the Futuro Nazionale deputy with Vannacci …
THE HYPOTHESIS OF A CONFIDENCE VOTE
Why did the second highest office of the State expose herself so much, knowing that that text, if modified, will have to return to Montecitorio? “Because next time, in the Chamber, Meloni would put a confidence vote on it,” says the buzz in the center-right, and the premier’s party members do nothing to deny it.
Meanwhile, Forza Italia senators have informed their allies that they will not vote for any amendment that reintroduces preferences. Similar signals have been sent by the Lega members. Translation: don’t try. The lengthening of the times – a second reading in Montecitorio would be necessary – discourages this choice, but it has just been seen that in the name of “consistency” the prime minister does not hesitate to take difficult paths.
At the moment, however, Meloni is not interested in dramatizing further. For this reason, she has not sought Mattarella, who in turn has kept his distance from the matter: the first move is not up to him. The government has not been voted out and there is no need for a confrontation between the two. The head of State, moreover, would refer the premier back to the Chambers, where she would most likely obtain confidence again. And it would be politically difficult, for Meloni, to explain to Italians that they will go to the polls early because a group of center-right parliamentarians voted against a text on which the coalition party leaders had agreed.
For this reason, for now, the premier can only keep going straight ahead. With the electoral law reform that will be approved today in the Chamber: in September, in the Senate, she will decide whether to take the path indicated by La Russa. And with the government program, increasingly focused on security, as demonstrated by the “anti-maranza” bill passed by the council of ministers just before the Fdi amendment was rejected. Waiting to decide on Vannacci. “Reflection is also underway on him,” warns an Fdi leader. “Half of ours are in favor, half are against. Giorgia will decide, in the end.” As always.
