Third pole, between donations, 2xthousand and treasure a millionaire divorce difficult to manage: here’s what’s in the bag

A marriage “that doesn’t have to be done”, but that can’t even be completely dissolved (at least for the moment). It takes a good divorce lawyer to manage the Action-IV separation, because among the issues of most heated friction is that of the financing of the two parties and that of ensuring the single party of the Third Pole, which was never born. A sensitive issue, very divisive. Which can explain why, for now, in Parliament Action and Italia viva will continue to remain together. Before breaking up, the two parties had long discussions about money. Calenda’s proposal was: an ‘entry’ token of 200 thousand euros and 70% of the donations of 2xthousand from the second half of 2023 to the single party. But, Calenda then added, “Renzi was unwilling to take a ‘commitment’ to pass the resources of Italia viva to the new party”. However, Iv has always rejected the accusation of having a ‘short arm’: «Italia viva has already paid 1 million and 200 thousand euros to the Third Pole project. Money used in the vast majority of cases for billboards bearing Calenda’s face and name», clarified the treasurer Francesco Bonifazi. The order of magnitude of the discussion can be understood by scrolling through the list of beneficiaries of the 2xthousand taxpayers for 2022. A ‘treasure’ that sees third party action in Italy (after Pd and FdI, before the League) with 1,256,466 euros received by just under 50,000 supporters. Italia viva follows him, with 973,345 euros, however, the result of 52,693 “valid choices”, a number by a whisker higher than that recorded by Calenda. But the big voice in the budgets of the parties is made by the parliamentary groups. It is about that “single and all-encompassing contribution” which weighs in the last budget of the Chamber (and only of the Chamber) for a total of 30,870,000 euros. Strict rules are envisaged (the Chamber, for example, requires twenty members of the Group, with exceptions) but “the availability of premises and equipment is ensured for the performance of their functions to the parliamentary Groups”, as stated in the Montecitorio Regulations. Not only that, the annual contribution “from the budget of the Chamber” covers “all expenses” and depends on the “numerical strength of each Group”. In a nutshell, the larger the Group, the more it will be able to count on substantial repayments. In the last legislature, where Iv was on his own and Azione was part of the Misto, Italia viva declared 604,960 euros in its balance sheet in Deputies under the assets/liabilities item, collecting 1,264,315 euros as a contribution from the Chamber. Azione, which was the “political component” of Misto with +Europe and the Italian Radicals, received a contribution of 140,000 euros against a surplus/deficit for the year of 31,137 euros. In the Senate Iv declared a deficit of 91,509 euros against a contribution from the Senate of 1,220,953 euros. Action, at Palazzo Madama, had only a few senators in the Misto who, in total, obtained a contribution of 3,205,833 euros. To this we must then add the positions in the various internal bodies (Bureau, Councils, Commissions) assigned in order to represent all the Groups, with Iv and Action obviously considered the only component in this legislature (until now).