The missed duel on TV today was proposed again as a remote challenge at the Trento Economics Festival where Giorgia Meloni and Elly Schlein took turns, shortly in the afternoon, on the stage of the event. The form is less intense and ‘spectacular’ than that of face-to-face, but the back and forth, distances and alternative visions have nevertheless been revealed: from the premiership to work via the income meter and the Superbonus.
At work, Meloni’s attack is aimed directly at the Democratic Party. “I thank the secretary of the Democratic Party Schlein for reminding us of the disasters that the left in government has brought to Italy in 10 years. It is true that the wages they grow less than they grow in France” but “in the years before Covid wages decreased by 1.5% while in Germany they increased by 16% and in France by 9%. You can ask the secretary of the Democratic Party this, what she thinks of the results brought about on wages by the left in the government”.
Schlein does not shy away and replies dryly: “What do I reply to Meloni? That if the left had done everything right in recent years, someone like me would never have won the PD primaries…. I’m the one asking Meloni: for how long time, after 19 months in government, will he continue to blame previous governments instead of taking responsibility?”.
The chapter premiered confirms the distances and the clear opposition of the Democratic Party. Meloni makes it clear that he does not intend to give up on his constitutional reform and explains it like this: “Currently my life goes like this: I get up in the morning, I try to solve problems, I go to sleep, there is little time left for my daughter. Does anyone really think that my goal is to continue living this life? So, I want to leave something: it’s make or break: no one asks me to warm my seat”.
And if Meloni does not intend to back down on the premiership and the referendum which is hinted at by that ‘make or break’ underlined by the prime minister, Schlein is ready to take up the challenge. Even in a face-to-face confrontation, which returns once again in the words of the two leaders. “I am always available for a discussion with Giorgia Meloni at any time, I had even agreed to do so also in Rai”, underlines the Pd secretary, alluding to the criticism of the public service that would be reduced to Tele-Meloni. And the prime minister gets angry on this point: “The problem is not that there is Tele-Meloni, but that there is no longer Tele-Pd…”.
But on the merits, beyond the willingness to discuss, Schlein holds firm to one goal: no to the direct election of the prime minister. But not even if the reform is accompanied by a double-round electoral law? The secretary of the Democratic Party is urged: “Any proposal that contains this forcing of the direct election of the prime minister undermines the balance between the powers of the State. The powers of the President of the Republic, in our opinion, should not be touched.”
So the Super bonus. The Prime Minister explains: “We have, on the Superbonus and building bonuses alone, 17 billion in scams, which is the entire value produced by our entire wine sector in a year: it went away with the scams. I am a serious person, I don’t take responsibility for carrying out something like this.” But here Schlein reproaches Meloni for having voted for the extension of the Superbonus: “The thing that I find very hypocritical on the part of Meloni and the government is that when the extensions to the Superbonus were voted on, they voted for them. In January 2023 they blocked the transfer of credits and they have done nothing this year other than granting the extension to the houses on which they have lashed out so much. They always have two faces”.
On the income meter, the prime minister clarifies that she has suspended the rule “because I want to see it better” and claims the fight against tax evasion: “I am accused of being a friend of tax evaders. And that’s fine, unfortunately the numbers don’t say this. The numbers say that 2023 it was the record year in the recovery of tax evasion in Italy”. But for Schlein when you make “19 amnesties in 19 months” of government you do only one thing: “You wink at the smart ones”. And he adds: “We saw a confused government on the income meter: first they put it on, then they backtracked. Giorgia Meloni also demonstrated great inconsistency.”
There is one topic on which there has not been a remote exchange: the Toti question. And Schlein, leaving the Trento Festival, reproaches the prime minister as follows: “I followed Giorgia Meloni’s interview at the Trento Festival with great attention and I was amazed that she didn’t take the opportunity to say a word about the situation in Liguria and the arrest of Giovanni Toti: it is the silence of the indecent”.
