After Sardinia, the Basilicata issue agitates the center-right. The tetris of choosing presidential candidates for this year’s regional elections creates more than just concern among the majority of the government. Forza Italia intends not to give up on Italian Vito Bardi, Lucanian president whose mandate is expiring. “For us, Bardi is not under discussion. We didn’t make any controversy about Sardinia, much less about Bardi, and we didn’t ask anyone to leave”, says the deputy prime minister and national secretary of the FI, Antonio Tajani, after the tensions with the League, which has now renounced the possible reconfirmation of the outgoing Christian Solinas. From Brescia, on the eve of a series of provincial congresses in Lombardy, including the one in Milan, the number one of the party founded by Silvio Berlusconi comments: “We at Forza Italia are decisive in this majority, which thanks to our work managed to defend the house in more than one occasion.” And further: “We claim our identity also within the alliance, but that does not mean entering into a collision course with our allies. We are a coalition, we are not a single party, we are different and we are fundamental to the alliance and for the government of this country, because our international credibility has allowed Italy to count more in Europe and the world”.
On the other hand, the challenge of the European elections is also part of the 2024 electoral puzzle. And in this sense, Forza Italia’s ‘no’ to the Afd and Marine Le Pen, sovereignist allies of the League, is well known. From the Northern League, the leader and another deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, sees the glass as half full: “The objective is the center-right united and winning everywhere”. Even though the number two of the party in Via Bellerio, Andrea Crippa, doesn’t spare any attacks: “With power plays you won’t go far. . Now we have made a gesture of responsibility towards the coalition, to keep the center-right united. Our sense of responsibility is demonstrated by the facts. Now we hope that others will too, by not putting the parties’ interests at risk. the Center”. Which leads to the construction of an alternative hypothesis to Bardi that – according to what appears from parliamentary sources – would not even displease the FdI: identifying a civic candidate supported by the entire coalition.
Returning to Sardinia, Alessandra Zedda, former vice-president and councilor of the council of Solinas, who entered the field as an independent candidate but remained a member of Forza Italia, withdraws her candidacy and announces that she will support the race of Paolo Truzzu, mayor of Cagliari of the Fratelli d’Italia, who have now also been given the green light by the Northern League. For the most part, the third term front also remains open. One step at a time, however. The Northern League aims for governors, with the aim of ‘shielding’ Luca Zaia, in Veneto and, in the meantime, for mayors of small municipalities, up to 15 mandates. “I believe that placing a term limit – reiterates Salvini – is a limitation of democracy. We, parliamentarians, have no limits, we, ministers, have no term limits and, therefore, why should a governor or a mayor have any? It is always the citizens who decide. Therefore, for me it is always better for citizens and not a national law to decide who governs them.”
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.
