tension rises in the majority – Corriere.it

The most thorny issue for the majority is the ratification of the Mes, the European stability mechanism, or the bailout fund responsible for supporting EU countries in financial difficulty with loans. Italy is the last country that has not yet approved it, even if voting for it is not the same as adhering to the loans from the Fund. Difficulties in the government majority have already come to light in the Foreign Affairs Committee. Meloni has always opposed it, now she is ready to negotiate in exchange for greater debt flexibility. It is the leader of the League Matteo Salvini who is against it. And also that of Forza Italia Antonio Tajani raises doubts. In theory, ratification should be discussed starting June 30. But the holding of the majority in the Chamber and any tensions with the EU weigh on the issue.

So far she had always managed to manage tensions and the more delicate passages in the alliance, «as if I were Miss Rottenmeier», Meloni sighed every time. From the other day something seems to have changed for the premier, coinciding with the disappearance of Berlusconi and due to a series of events that are making startle the center-right. So Meloni, who felt obliged to play the role of Rottenmeier — a character from the cartoon Heidi obsessed with precision — seems compelled to deal with emergencies more than busy dictating the agenda.

We had to manage the polemical launch of the reforms on justice, although he encouraged the Minister of Justice Nordio to go ahead with a «come on Carlo» pronounced in the Council of Ministers. We need to evaluate the thorny “Santanchè case”, which risks turning into a big issue for the government, pressed by the opposition and not covered by those pieces of the Lega and Forza Italia who have been the counterpoint to the premier since the beginning of the legislature. We have to close the negotiation on the Pnrr and obtain the longed-for third installment. The knot of the commissioner appointment for the flooded areas of Romagna needs to be resolved.

And then there is the Mes. Its ratification is “inevitable”, the representatives of the executive are aware of this. But the passage is made demanding because it is overloaded bySalvini’s attitudewhich he wants politically unload the entire responsibility on Meloni of choice: that it is the prime minister who honors the bill, undermining her “consistency” on the European Stability Mechanism which she has always opposed over the years of opposition. You make it clear to the leader of the Northern League Romeowhen he recalls that “we are historically opposed. We and FdI, I think … But if Meloni says that we need to vote for him, we certainly won’t put the government in difficulty ». You pay «Giorgia», in short. Although not everyone agrees with the secretary. If Giorgetti recognizes himself in the line in favor of the Mes dictated by his dicastery, it is also because he is fed up with the European pressures. “During the meetings in Brussels – says an Italian diplomat – some even chased him into the toilets”. And yesterday Governor Fedriga sided with him: “Ratifying the Mes does not mean using it”.

But it is clear that Salvini decides in the League, committed to asserting himself on the appointments and political choices to get out of Meloni’s shadow, determined as he is to count today in the power structures to count himself tomorrow in the polls. As the “inescapable” path has become more tortuous, with that passage in the Chamber that was not at all orthodox: it had never happened that a majority deserted the vote in the commission to avoid taking a position. For FdI, the fool in the Palazzo was the only way not to make a fool of himself in Europe and perhaps on the markets: he takes his time trusting that Meloni will go back to playing «Miss Rottenmeier».

There is a reason then if yesterday the undersecretary to the presidency Mantovano cryptic stated that behind the moves of Palazzo Chigi: «There is a clear strategy. Minister Fitto highlighted some aspects: “The question of the Mes is resolved in a broader framework, with the completion of the banking union and the renewal of the Stability pact”, i.e. the do ut des on which the government is aiming in Europe. But the political fact is that Meloni wants to have time to get his voters to metabolize the “yes” to the Stability Mechanism. Perhaps by doing like Germany, which ratified it, however by including it in the approval some “conditionalities”: even Rome could make use of an old regulation from 1965.

Meanwhile the timing of the parliamentary passage is studied, which should end on Friday afternoon and with the exchanges closed. And we think about whether it is better to have the Chambers vote between the end of July and the beginning of August, when the Italians are at the beach, instead of September, when the holidays are over, there are also bills to pay. The ratification of the Mes is “inevitable”, otherwise it would be difficult to understand why the premier and the minister of the economy joked the day before yesterday for the entire duration of the meeting at Palazzo Chigi. Were it not for the “Santanchè case”, an unknown factor that could turn into a political variable, the calendar of challenges in the center-right between now and the Europeans has already been drawn up: it will be an endless derby between Meloni and Salvini.

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