The rebus of the deputies: challenge between the oppositions for the number two of the Chambers

ROME. An armchair for two, or rather: two armchairs for three. The game of the vice-presidents of the Chambers and of the guarantee commissions risks causing another short circuit between the oppositions, because the available boxes are fewer than the suitors and after the snipers on Ignazio La Russa there are many who fear that something like this could happen again. Indeed, some Pd parliamentarians come to evoke the precedent of Riccardo Villari, dem senator who – against the will of his party – in 2008 was elected with a blitz by the center-right majority at the helm of the Supervisory Commission, which usually goes to the opposition . The fact is that on Wednesday the vice-presidents of the chambers will vote, the opposition will be entitled to two in Montecitorio and two in Palazzo Madama, but the opposition forces are three and at the state everything suggests that the Pd and M5s will divide them. After all, the words of Carlo Calenda well photograph the state of relations: «The opposition is not made together like the government. There is the possibility of opposing the Democratic Party if he first understands who he is and decides who represents him ».

The ingredients for another “Villari-style” incursion are all there. Matteo Renzi, in fact, has been raising his voice for days and yesterday warned that if dem and 5 stars do the en plein, the centrists will claim the presidency of Copasir, the control committee on secret services. For the vice presidencies, at the moment, there does not seem to be any openings by the M5s and Pd. The Democrats could elect Debora Serracchiani or Nicola Zingaretti to the House and on Friday the name of Alessandro Zan – the promoter of the law against homophobia – was also turned to counteract the new president of Montecitorio Lorenzo Fontana, historically on hostile positions towards claims of the LGBTQ + world and supporter of the traditional family. But Serracchiani and Zingaretti seem to have the greatest possibilities and a lot will depend on how the Democratic Party closes the game of the group leaders. M5s would instead focus on the former mayor of Turin Chiara Appendino.

In the Senate, then, the Democratic Party could re-elect Anna Rossomando (former vice president in the last legislature), Valeria Valente or Simona Malpezzi. Also in this case the choice for the group leader will be decisive, which will be made on Tuesday, the day before the vote for the vice-presidents. The 5 stars, on the other hand, could indicate Stefano Patuanelli.

The guarantee commissions for the centrists would therefore remain, but the Copasir claimed by Renzi is already optioned by the Pd, the first opposition party, which has two names for the presidency: that of Lorenzo Guerini (who has already held that role) and that of by Enrico Borghi. On the latter, however, there would be a certain coldness of the 5 stars. The law establishes that the president “is elected from among the members belonging to the opposition groups” with an “absolute majority of the members”. A ballot is also possible if no one reaches the quorum of the absolute majority. Less likely here that the majority can disrupt the opposition agreements, according to a Pd parliamentarian: “It is a delicate body, it is difficult for Giorgia Meloni to make such a blitz on Copasir.”

Then there is the Supervisory Commission on Rai. The presidency should go to 5 stars according to the informal agreements that, according to Renzi, would have already been signed between the dem and the M5s: the possible names are Ettore Licheri or, if he did not gain the vice-presidency of the Chamber, Chiara Appendino. For the Pd the negotiation is led by Marco Meloni, as well as by Enrico Letta himself, while for the 5 stars the dossier is followed by Michele Gubitosa and Alessandra Todde.

But it is precisely here that a blitz by the center-right could be triggered: if the majority voted for an exponent of Action-IV, perhaps for Maria Elena Boschi, the agreements between Pd and 5 stars would be skipped and the procedure that the commission entrusted to the ‘opposition.

The Democratic Party, however, has an extra grain. We have to decide whether to confirm the outgoing group leaders (Malpezzi-Serracchiani) until the congress or whether to elect two new names. In this case we are talking about Valente or Rossomando in the Senate and Ascani in the Chamber. By tomorrow evening Letta will have to undo this knot as well.