Sanremo, the authentic profile of President Mattarella at the Ariston. With a 2023 dedicated to Carta-Corriere.it

TO a grumpy Matteo Salvini starts, according to which «Mattarella has the right to have fun», as if he had gone on a trip to Sanremo having nothing to do, the president’s trip to the Ariston Theater was a success. In fact, even someone who always moves against the current has given up this time. «The Italy that maybe isn’t, but that we’d like to be…» wrote the director of
Free
, Alessandro Salusti. Sure, there was no shortage of grumbling. For example, the recriminations of Rai directors for not having been informed before this arrival. It happened for security reasons, Obviously. But, who knows, perhaps also to avoid a probable run-up by party leaders to grab a seat in the spotlight. However, the fact remains that a real case no one could mount it.

On the hill the frenzy of controversytypical of each Festival, it is not collected. And this also concerns the rumor, perfect for instigating the political conflict, on alleged contacts between Roberto Benigni and the president on the issues that the actor would have touched (and it was claimed in an obliquely anti-government key) in his praise of the Constitution. After all, no one can think of imposing anything to an interpreter like the Oscar winner. So one fake news, for the Quirinal. Nor would he Mattarella, who never allowed himself to dictate the agenda to Parliament by saying what reforms need to be done and how to do them.

We only know that the president will limit himself, in this 2023 in which the 75th anniversary of the Charter falls, to citing its relevance and the need to implement it to the end. He will talk about it often, on occasions and with different messages each timecalibrated on the cardinal principles, as it has already done in the New Year’s message.

He presses him to send gods signals to the country. Like the one bounced on Tuesday precisely by the national-popular audience of Sanremo, with an event followed on live TV by over ten million people. For many it was an opportunity to grasp some aspects of his personality, which is by no means aloof from everything and impermeable to emotions. In short, the profile of an icy and almost inhuman man. Of “a sphinx” inscrutable, for some. We saw it well, in his authentic dimension, when Mattarella put his hand on his heart, moved, hearing the mention of his father, the constituent Bernardo. And when his amused smile slipped into uncontrollable laughter hearing Benigni’s gags. Which Benigni wanted to greet him behind the scenes, while Gianni Morandi sang the verses of an old Sicilian song just for him.