Three weeks after the victory of the right-wing coalition in the Italian parliamentary elections on September 25th, negotiations between the different parties to form a government are still ongoing.
A decisive step, taken with the election of the presidents of the two chambers, the Senate and the National Assembly, have revealed the balance of power within the coalition.
The president of the Senate was elected first, on Thursday, October 13th. Ignazio La Russa will assume this key position—second in the state after the president of the Republic—according to the order of protocol established by the Italian Constitution. A former member of the Italian social movement, Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), and a lawyer by training, he was minister of defence from 2008 to 2011 under Silvio Berlusconi. He participated in the formation of Fratelli d’Italia in 2012, of which he briefly held the presidency before handing it over to Giorgia Meloni. He has, in essence, always been a strong supporter of the future prime minister.
La Russa’s election, however, did not come without trouble. Following a clash between La Russa and Berlusconi, several senators from Forza Italia (Berlusconi’s party), chose at their leader’s request to withhold their votes from La Russa—who was nevertheless able to be elected with votes from the left-wing opposition. But which ones voted for La Russa? The mystery remains, since Matteo Renzi of the Democratic Party denies, for example, any involvement of his party in the election of the man whom some insist on seeing as a direct ‘heir’ of fascism. “It’s not us,” he defended himself before the Italian press.
The atmosphere was tense in the Palazzo Madama where the Senate sits in Rome. The doyenne of senators sitting for life, Liliana Segre, before giving way to La Russa, conjured the ghost of Mussolini. Segre recalled the coup d’état that began with the March on Rome in October of 1922 and culminated with fascists assassinating the deputy Matteotti, the symbol of anti-fascist resistance. However, her efforts to subvert the coalition led by Meloni were abated by La Russa himself, who delivered a moderate and soothing speech, calling for responsibility and collaboration between the political forces, without giving in to the temptation of voluntarism: “Reforms are expected and will be discussed in this legislature as well. We must not fabulously want ‘everything and now,’ but above all we must not fear them. We must try to realise them together.”
On Friday, October 14th, the president of the Chamber of Deputies was elected. The post went to Lorenzo Fontana, a member of Matteo Salvini’s party, former Minister for European Affairs and Minister for the Family. He was the leader of the Lega deputies in the previous legislature. The left-wing press describes this conservative Catholic, father of a large family known for his firm stance on immigration, as a “fundamentalist Catholic.” The left-wing daily La Repubblica paints a caricature of him as someone who “recites fifty Hail Marys a day,” promotes “the restriction of abortion rights,” denounces “gay marriage, euthanasia, and multicultural society,” and, to top it all off, got married under the ministry of a traditionalist priest. Between the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, there is “a contest of extremism,” exclaimed the number two of the Democratic Party, Peppe Provenzano.
In the Assembly and the Senate, the distribution of roles between the two main parties of the coalition was done with good understanding, Giorgia Meloni stressed. But the defection of Forza Italia’s votes in the Senate reveals that tensions persist between the coalition parties over the distribution of posts in the future government. Meanwhile, the president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, has still not officially recognized Giorgia Meloni as the new prime minister.
The shape of the government is not yet clear. But the leaks are positive and the predictions are multiplying for the 23 portfolios that the government should include, like that of Mario Draghi.
On Monday, October 17th, a summit meeting is due to take place between Meloni and Berlusconi, who are struggling to reach an agreement. The Lega, whose position is not the most comfortable, must also be satisfied. Salvini’s party, once leading the Right until a few months ago, has lost a lot of momentum to Fratelli d’Italia. Salvini owes his continued presence in the race to his alliance with Meloni and Berlusconi. Within his party, the discontented are making themselves heard, especially the ‘northerners,’—those who would like to return to the Lega’s primary vocation, namely to defend the interests of northern Italy. Salvini’s presence in Meloni’s government is still under discussion. He will certainly be deputy prime minister, but under no circumstances will he return to his previous position as interior minister, which had exposed him to too much controversy.
Rumour has it that Meloni would like to give pride of place to technocratic ministers, not drawn from the ranks of the old militants. Regardless of the media hype, there will be no more than two or three, especially within the highly sensitive finance ministry where Meloni’s detractors fear a ‘Draghi bis’ government. Draghi had entrusted this key post to Daniele Franco, an independent economist and former director-general of the Bank of Italy. Meloni would also consider a technocrat for this post. As potential candidates, La Repubblica puts forward the names of Domenico Siniscalco and Vittorio Grill—one a banker and economist, the other an executive at JP Morgan. In Health—a sensitive post in an Italy still traumatised by COVID-19—the names of doctor Guido Bertolaso and former Milan mayor Letizia Moratti, both close to Berlusconi, are circulating.
The nomination of Giorgia Meloni and the announcement of the government should be known from October 20th. As MP Vincenzo Sofo explained in an interview with the French weekly L’Incorrect, expectations are high. ‘If we manage to govern well, we will be a model for the whole of Europe,’ he said.
New Italian Government On the Way
Three weeks after the victory of the right-wing coalition in the Italian parliamentary elections on September 25th, negotiations between the different parties to form a government are still ongoing.
A decisive step, taken with the election of the presidents of the two chambers, the Senate and the National Assembly, have revealed the balance of power within the coalition.
The president of the Senate was elected first, on Thursday, October 13th. Ignazio La Russa will assume this key position—second in the state after the president of the Republic—according to the order of protocol established by the Italian Constitution. A former member of the Italian social movement, Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI), and a lawyer by training, he was minister of defence from 2008 to 2011 under Silvio Berlusconi. He participated in the formation of Fratelli d’Italia in 2012, of which he briefly held the presidency before handing it over to Giorgia Meloni. He has, in essence, always been a strong supporter of the future prime minister.
La Russa’s election, however, did not come without trouble. Following a clash between La Russa and Berlusconi, several senators from Forza Italia (Berlusconi’s party), chose at their leader’s request to withhold their votes from La Russa—who was nevertheless able to be elected with votes from the left-wing opposition. But which ones voted for La Russa? The mystery remains, since Matteo Renzi of the Democratic Party denies, for example, any involvement of his party in the election of the man whom some insist on seeing as a direct ‘heir’ of fascism. “It’s not us,” he defended himself before the Italian press.
The atmosphere was tense in the Palazzo Madama where the Senate sits in Rome. The doyenne of senators sitting for life, Liliana Segre, before giving way to La Russa, conjured the ghost of Mussolini. Segre recalled the coup d’état that began with the March on Rome in October of 1922 and culminated with fascists assassinating the deputy Matteotti, the symbol of anti-fascist resistance. However, her efforts to subvert the coalition led by Meloni were abated by La Russa himself, who delivered a moderate and soothing speech, calling for responsibility and collaboration between the political forces, without giving in to the temptation of voluntarism: “Reforms are expected and will be discussed in this legislature as well. We must not fabulously want ‘everything and now,’ but above all we must not fear them. We must try to realise them together.”
On Friday, October 14th, the president of the Chamber of Deputies was elected. The post went to Lorenzo Fontana, a member of Matteo Salvini’s party, former Minister for European Affairs and Minister for the Family. He was the leader of the Lega deputies in the previous legislature. The left-wing press describes this conservative Catholic, father of a large family known for his firm stance on immigration, as a “fundamentalist Catholic.” The left-wing daily La Repubblica paints a caricature of him as someone who “recites fifty Hail Marys a day,” promotes “the restriction of abortion rights,” denounces “gay marriage, euthanasia, and multicultural society,” and, to top it all off, got married under the ministry of a traditionalist priest. Between the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, there is “a contest of extremism,” exclaimed the number two of the Democratic Party, Peppe Provenzano.
In the Assembly and the Senate, the distribution of roles between the two main parties of the coalition was done with good understanding, Giorgia Meloni stressed. But the defection of Forza Italia’s votes in the Senate reveals that tensions persist between the coalition parties over the distribution of posts in the future government. Meanwhile, the president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, has still not officially recognized Giorgia Meloni as the new prime minister.
The shape of the government is not yet clear. But the leaks are positive and the predictions are multiplying for the 23 portfolios that the government should include, like that of Mario Draghi.
On Monday, October 17th, a summit meeting is due to take place between Meloni and Berlusconi, who are struggling to reach an agreement. The Lega, whose position is not the most comfortable, must also be satisfied. Salvini’s party, once leading the Right until a few months ago, has lost a lot of momentum to Fratelli d’Italia. Salvini owes his continued presence in the race to his alliance with Meloni and Berlusconi. Within his party, the discontented are making themselves heard, especially the ‘northerners,’—those who would like to return to the Lega’s primary vocation, namely to defend the interests of northern Italy. Salvini’s presence in Meloni’s government is still under discussion. He will certainly be deputy prime minister, but under no circumstances will he return to his previous position as interior minister, which had exposed him to too much controversy.
Rumour has it that Meloni would like to give pride of place to technocratic ministers, not drawn from the ranks of the old militants. Regardless of the media hype, there will be no more than two or three, especially within the highly sensitive finance ministry where Meloni’s detractors fear a ‘Draghi bis’ government. Draghi had entrusted this key post to Daniele Franco, an independent economist and former director-general of the Bank of Italy. Meloni would also consider a technocrat for this post. As potential candidates, La Repubblica puts forward the names of Domenico Siniscalco and Vittorio Grill—one a banker and economist, the other an executive at JP Morgan. In Health—a sensitive post in an Italy still traumatised by COVID-19—the names of doctor Guido Bertolaso and former Milan mayor Letizia Moratti, both close to Berlusconi, are circulating.
The nomination of Giorgia Meloni and the announcement of the government should be known from October 20th. As MP Vincenzo Sofo explained in an interview with the French weekly L’Incorrect, expectations are high. ‘If we manage to govern well, we will be a model for the whole of Europe,’ he said.
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