Renzi-Calenda, the soap opera that fascinated Italian politics, has perhaps reached its final episode. Yesterday, at a meeting of the group at Palazzo Madama, which was not attended by Action senators, Italia viva changed the name of the formation in the Senate: it will be called «IV-Il Centro-Renovar a Europa». A movement that Renzi described in his e-news: «Today we officially part ways with our friends at Action. We tried until the end to ask to make the list together and Calenda’s response was dismissive. Everyone has their own style, we don’t argue. Therefore, best wishes to each and every one on the way. Better to end this soap opera than to have half of Italy laughing at us”, wrote the former prime minister.
The reasons for the rupture, in addition to all the controversies of recent months, would be in the words of the leader of Action in the Foglio party: «The relationship is closed not between Renzi and Calenda, but between Action and Italia Viva. The action will not go to the European elections together with Italia Viva.” We remember that in Montecitorio you need at least 20 people to form a group, Iv has 9 while Azione has 10 plus Ettore Rosato and Elena Bonetti who are independent but who have already done knowing that in case of separation of the groups they would also go with the Chamber’s Action. It must be said that there is a certain optimism among both the Renzians and the Calendians, given that in the past there were exceptions to the regulation. The president of the Chamber Lorenzo Fontana granted , for example, to Maurizio Lupi the formation of a group even if its “moderates” are only 10. Another precedent dates back to 2013, when the president of the Chamber Laura Boldrini granted exemption to Fratelli d’ Italy will form an autonomous group despite having only 9 deputies.
The issue is different in Palazzo Madama where 6 senators are needed to form an autonomous group, the “Renzianos” with the entry of Dafne Musolino are 7 while the “Calendians” are only 4. “And that does not mean that there will be 4 left”, they hiss from Italia Viva alluding to Letizia Moratti’s recent activism to get exes back into Forza Italia. With the change of the group’s name, the Calenda senators now find themselves at a crossroads: either they remain in the new Renzian formation or they leave and join the mixed group.
Perhaps this is also why Azione decided to write a letter to Senate President Ignazio La Russa appealing in an attempt to block this name change. According to Calenda, the group’s statute would not allow this, as at least two-thirds of the senators are needed.
But let’s see in detail. The exact two-thirds average is 7.3. For those from Italia Viva, we rounded down because we would only round above 0.5. It goes without saying that for those from Action the opposite is true, it is necessary to round up so that it takes 8 to decide on changing the group’s name. «They don’t have the numbers to change the status, two thirds of the group are needed and therefore it will end in nothing. Renzi is desperate because the Center no longer exists and he doesn’t know what to do for the European elections”, explain sources close to Calenda.
The leader of Action himself would have commented: «I know people», but then he would have vented to the loyalists «no one is going to leave the groups that I elected with my name at the polls. We will never go with Italia Viva. End”. And to reinforce Action’s thesis, they speak of “a consolidated jurisprudence between the TAR and the Constitutional Court on the impossibility of rounding by default”.
From Italia Viva, however, they have no doubts: «They want to refer to the decisions of the Constitutional Court, but they have nothing to do with the parliamentary groups. Here are the Senate rules.” Then there is the issue of Dafne Musolino, former South with North, the senator for Action could not be included in the group without the proposal co-signed by Borghi and Gelmini. A circumstance denied by Raffaella Paita, coordinator national group of Italia Viva, who highlighted: “Dafne Musolino is part of the parliamentary group in her own right. Carlo personally welcomed Dafne” and the senator “intervened in the Chamber on behalf of the group and during question period.” For Francesco Bonifazi, from Italia Viva, the real reason for the dispute would be economic. «Calenda is afraid of going to the Mixed group and losing resources and television spaces». In fact, 300 thousand euros of “residual funds” would be at stake, i.e. money that Iv had accumulated in the last legislature and which for “the continuity of the group” was allocated to the Third Pole. Here too the versions are different: for Azione, if Iv formed a new group he would lose “continuity” and therefore that money and for that very reason “they changed the name instead of creating a new group”. For Italia Viva, that money would still belong to them under an agreement signed at the beginning of the legislature by Raffaella Paita and Matteo Richetti, which already established that that amount would be allocated to Renzi’s party. In short, the soap opera is ending and the last episode could be full of twists and turns.
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.
