Salvini is also losing Sicily. His regional secretary wants to leave

Even the tables that welcome Matteo Salvini, every time he finds himself in Palermo for a hearing in the Open Arms trial, are increasingly dull (he attacked on the Pos: “I am a liberal, everyone must be free to pay as they wish. If someone who wants to pay two euros for a coffee with a credit card is just a pain in the ass”). In the last group photo, very grainy, the Captain is on the far right. Embraced to anyone. While the center is missing Nino Minardo, the current regional secretary of the Carroccio, which in recent months looks more and more like a cart. Claudicating mostly.

The difficulties of the League are also accentuating in Sicily. And the frequent visits of the Minister of Infrastructures, and some photo opportunities, are not enough to restore calm. Since the municipal elections in Palermo last June, the party has lost tone, men and strength. The more armchairs arrived, the more it split into currents. And from this trend it is hard to go back.

Jailbird was the entrance of Luke Sammartino, new regional deputy governor, who negotiated his “landing” in perfect solitude, not caring about hierarchies. With an obvious, rich counterpart to present to the Captain: the over thirty thousand votes that in 2017 brought him to the regional assembly as the first of the elected (in Pd share). Five years later, and despite a fleeting appearance with the Renzians, Sammartino’s consents remained a lot: twenty thousand. They earned him the first seat alongside Schifani, despite the fact that the president of the Region claims “continuity” with the Musumeci government, of which Sammartino had been the most illustrious of detractors.

His presence, moreover, has always been viewed with suspicion by the current (nearly?) secretary, who since 2020 – after the interlude of a foreign pope (Senator Stefano Candiani) – has tried to open the League to civic bringing together moderates and former Christian Democrats. And federating with the Autonomists of the former governor Lombardo. Minardo’s mission – an “inclusive and southerner” party – was only half successful and today, the conflict between the old guard and the new entry proves it. “Compared with the approximately 43,500 votes obtained by the elected, there are approximately 86,000 obtained by the unelected who deserve a proper involvement in the government of Sicily”, reported the secretary after marking a visit to the dinner (in the official version some commitments would have kept him in Milan).

A sign that the most obvious conflict is between the rewarded and the disinherited. It can be among the first Mimmo Turano, new Councilor for Education and Vocational Training, coming from the unfortunate UDC, who joined the League on the eve of the presentation of the lists, last August, and was elected thanks to the votes of his native Trapani, where he was also in contention at the Senate. Another last minute arrival. Another conquest at the expense of who was there before. Checks and balances, in this phase, were badly balanced. And Salvini let it go, like Berlusconi for the dispute between Schifani and Micciché (which led to the creation of two Forza Italia: what an embarrassment).

The League, however, is a party that does not hold back. Release. So even the regional secretariat could get back in the balance. “I don’t believe this Carbonari who is jostling to take power in the regional government and in the party,” confirmed Minardo, placing every decision in the hands of the boss. The deputy from Modica, who has recently obtained the presidency of the Deputies Defense Commission, would be willing to step aside, even if “internal competition is a panacea for everyone”. But it is also a great misfortune.

Not that a new figure is a guarantee of a restart. The desire for seats of the Sicilian Northern League is not at all commensurate with the results obtained. On the other hand, in the last regional elections, Prima l’Italia (this is how they called the League to disguise it in the face of prejudice) took 6.5 percent, useful for electing five deputies, and leaving out other champions of preferences: starting with Carmelo Pullara, who made it big in his province (Agrigento), where the Carroccio did not win the seat. And Salvini? He hopes to use the pull of the island and build the bridge, to then applaud himself and the Sicilian ruling class that he had always believed in. Even that a little messed up party of him.