Matteo Salvini’s presence in Pescara is skipped, at the closing of the ‘three days’ of Fdi entrusted today, 28 April, to Giorgia Meloni. While anticipation grows over the announcement of the prime minister’s candidacy in the European elections, the leader of the League makes it known that he will be there, but via video link. “Mandatory personal commitments”, the deputy prime minister’s staff are keen to point out, a clarification which is confirmed in Fdi circles, while sources close to the leader of the League are at pains to explain that the absence of the head of the MIT, in reality, was already known , even if communicated to the press only within the hour X.
At the meeting in the central Piazza Primo Maggio today there will be no shortage of all the other centre-right leaders, starting with the other deputy prime minister, Antonio Tajani, who in the afternoon will take advantage of the ‘drop-off’ to Pescara to present the Abruzzo candidates in the Fi quota.
The Vannacci case hits the event
No friction or bad mood therefore, at least according to the official versions of the two majority parties. But the fact is that, repeating the old dilemma of ‘Ecce Bombo’ – I am noticed more if I come and stay aside or if I don’t come at all – Salvini’s absence certainly creates a lot of noise in the large technostructure overlooking the sea, with a view that lends itself to shots and filming for important announcements. Even more so since the news of the declassified presence via video link arrives in hours in which the race for the European elections, in the Lega and more generally in the centre-right, is shaken by the ‘strong’ declarations of General Roberto Vannacci – officially a candidate in the Northern League – starting from the words on separate classes for disabled people which ended up making even the CEI thunder. The Fdi managers present in Pescara, pressed by reporters, keep their distance, but without ever forcing their hand and thus avoiding clashes and controversies.
Meloni ready to apply for the European Championships
Attention, moreover, is attracted by Meloni, who already arrived in Pescara yesterday but remained far from the ‘headquarters’ set up behind Cascella’s ship. Where everything now suggests that the prime minister, barring surprises, will announce that she is ready to wear the helmet – a metaphor used in Pescara – and take to the field for the electoral appointment of 8 and 9 June, even if not on the front line in the electoral campaign, which for her promises to be ‘restricted’, or rather ‘light’. Silvio Berlusconi already did it in 2009, when, at the helm of Palazzo Chigi but at the head of FI’s list for the challenge in Brussels, he kept a low profile in the electoral campaign, thanks to the profitable position of the role at the helm of the country.
While keeping her cards covered, sources close to the prime minister explain that Meloni will limit herself to opening and bringing down the curtain on the electoral campaign, letting the message slip through that she is committed to working for Italy, and therefore forced away from the ‘petrol’ of the squares, as you like to define the support of your supporters. Who will be asked for assistance at the polls to ‘change Europe’ – advert of the Fratelli d’Italia campaign -: ‘I am working for the Italians, give us the strength to change things’, the message that will start from Abruzzo but which will become the ‘must’ of the European race of the party in via della Scrofa.
Meloni as president of the G7, committed in international forums to making Italy count more in the world – is the message that Fdi wants to deliver to voters. The campaign will be played by ministers and the most famous faces of the party, replicating the discussion panels that animated the ‘three days’ in Pescara throughout Italy. Where among the undisputed protagonists Arianna Meloni stands out, responsible for the party secretariat and Fdi membership, reluctant with reporters but very willing to take selfies and exchange jokes with the militants. This morning you took part in the front row of the round table on violence against women, the actress Claudia Gerini was also on stage, and Giulia Cecchettin’s uncle was in the audience, with whom she exchanged a touching greeting.
Arianna Meloni and the rumors about the candidacy
The rumors about his possible entry into the field, not for a seat in Brussels but for possible by-elections in Rome for the seats that risk remaining vacant, are shot down in Fdi circles: “If he had wanted to run he would have done so 30 times in the last 20 years -they cut it short-. She likes to work, to lend a hand, she has always been a party leader, then we’ll see if she changes her mind in the future, but for now it’s not up in the air..”. At least for her, who more than once defined herself as a soldier but always willing, and willingly, to take a step back. While her sister tomorrow, barring any twists and turns, will return to wearing the helmet.
