It will not be a favor for the mafia, but on the contrary, it will create a lot of problems for organized crime. Matteo Salvini also “dismantles” the heaviest accusation that falls on the construction project of the bridge over the Straits, that of being a work in which the mafia clans will put their hands to invest “dirty” money. «Thursday we did not approve the new pyramids of Egypt but an infrastructure work as we are unlocking by the hundreds – announces the minister in intervention at the VIII edition of the Political School of the League at the Palazzo Castiglioni Congress Center in Milan – A 3.3 km bridge connecting Palermo-Rome-Milan-Munich-Berlin». “It is a bridge – he articulates – that bothers many, but I think that the infrastructure that will unite Sicily, Calabria, Italy and Europe will bother the mafia because it will bring development and real work”.
The other charge Salvini rejects is that there is no money to make it happen. And he does so by returning to the topic when he speaks via video link at the Trento Economics Festival. «The first funds to finance the construction will be included in the next budget law – he explains -. With regard to costs, 13.5 billion euros is the maximum amount of expenditure assumed. In any case, I am aware that it can also be obtained at a lower cost». Then he takes the satisfaction out of mocking the opposition: “I remember those, especially on the left, who say that the bridge is too expensive that it will cost half of what the Italians are costing the basic income, which leaves no trace”. “So we are the ones who would like to divide – he adds – The left accuses us of building walls while they want bridges, we build one for them, cool, but no, they prefer the wall that divides parts of Italy”.
Salvini also ensures that Europe will provide Italy with the third tranche of funding for the national recovery and resilience plan. “Minister Fitto and President Meloni are working hard, traveling between Rome and Brussels to obtain the roadmap for each project. Just a few more days and we will have the answer. Our goal is to spend well, but above all all allocated money. If then any project due to technical times cannot be completed by 2026, it seems common sense to transfer resources to another project that can be completed within the deadlines. 40 billion will pass from my ministry, plus 20 billion between Pnrr and complementary funds. Verification is taking place at each point, we are listening to each mayor so that everyone respects the roadmap ».
Instead, the leader of the League retains a reform, that of presidentialism, although he remains absolutely convinced that Italy is now ripe for the post of prime minister. “It would not change the role of the President of the Republic and would give citizens the possibility of directly indicating the majority and who will lead it – he explains – as long as there can be no political upheavals within the same legislature”. Fast forward also on the Autonomies reform, on which Minister Roberto Calderoli is working: «We need to give the Italians the possibility to choose a strong and stable government and, at the same time, implement what the Constitution already foresees and, therefore, delegate certain competences to the Regions they want» .
Finally, an ironic response to the EU rejecting the flat tax. “This Europe, this week, explained to us that we should not introduce a single tax. We don’t tell them in a low voice, but we say to ourselves here, subversives this Sunday morning, that there is already a fixed tax, so silence in Brussels, otherwise maybe they’ll send us peacekeepers». «But there is a fixed rate – he concludes – which reaches eighty thousand euros of turnover for VAT numbers. And I add that we want to raise the ceiling on VAT numbers to at least one hundred thousand and extend this fair tax treatment to employees, retirees and family members. In short, pay less to pay everyone.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
