Only a few weeks ago, in the columns of newspapers and in the corridors of the Palace, background stories and rumors abounded that Carlo Nordio’s experience in Via Arenula was already on its way out, after less than two years. The deadline set by those in the know would have been post-European, as part of a mini-reshuffle that would have also involved other boxes considered to be in the balance or under the sword of Damocles of a judicial proceeding, as in the case of Daniela Santanchè.
At the basis of these indiscretions – it had been said – there was an alleged incompatibility of character and the lack of harmony between the Keeper of the Seals and Palazzo Chigi on some dossiers, including the reform of the judicial system. It was said that the prime minister did not like the minister’s – always presumed – excessive crushing of Forza Italia’s positions, which could have irritated the right-wing electorate, historically not very permeable to battles identifiable with those of Silvio Berlusconi.
The example of the Cavaliere’s harsh clash with “Giorgia” was given, at the time of the formation of this government, precisely over the position of Minister of Justice, so as not to grant it to a protege of Berlusconi, as proof of the fact that the politics of justice would remained at a safe distance from the requests of the Azzurri. At a certain point, the name of a candidate to succeed Nordio was also hypothesized, in the person of the undersecretary to the presidency of the Council, Alfredo Mantovano, a former magistrate and therefore more suitable to maintain a line of communication with the robes for a reform “sustainable”. When Nordio actually entered into a collision course with Palazzo Chigi on the issue of the commission of inquiry into the dossiers, most observers thought that it was truly the end of the road.
Then, about two weeks ago, the Prime Minister announced the presentation of the constitutional bill in the Council of Ministers, during a public interview, which some had read as the payment of a bill of exchange signed at the time with Forza Italia, presented for collection by Tajani and his men during the election campaign to equalize the FdI-branded premiership and the Differentiated Autonomy, historical flag of the Northern League.
What many did not expect, and was not to be taken for granted, was that the Prime Minister would go into the merits of the contents of the Nordio reform and defend its cornerstones point by point, in a convinced manner, also hoping for a larger parliamentary majority of the centre-right than the ‘approved in the Council of Ministers. A total and not circumstantial adhesion, therefore, which cleared the field of any “politicist” reading and brought attention to the profound reasons that make the reform unpostponable, starting from the efficiency of the system and the benefits that would derive from it for citizens.
But above all, the prime minister gave full “coverage” to Nordio on the most controversial points of the text, on which the ANM and part of the opposition have already begun a harsh enforcement operation, which will probably result respectively in strikes in the courts and in obstructionism in the chambers. Starting from the separation of careers, with the double CSM and the dry draw, for the “vast majority of magistrates who only want to do their job well and do not want, in order to see their value recognised, to have to join a politicized current of the judiciary” . «I think», added the Prime Minister, «that the currents have done a lot of damage to the credibility of the judiciary and we are intervening with a rule of common sense which serves to create a greater balance between defense and prosecution and to enhance the impartiality of the judge, and therefore it is a tool for strengthening the role of magistrates.”
In particular, for the Prime Minister, the draw for the members of the CSM “is the system that undermines the mechanism of the currents” and the High Court wants it because “great power always corresponds to great responsibility and there is no greater responsibility of the power to decide on people’s lives, on people’s freedom, and it is right that magistrates, when they make mistakes, should also be sanctioned.” “Everything remains governed by the judiciary,” she added, “but in a system that is not party-based but truly free.”
A total harmony, therefore, which secures Nordio for the legislature, given the complexity of the process of the measure (including the confirmatory referendum, not surprisingly evoked by the prime minister on Monday). And that doesn’t hurt either from a European perspective: with the League having set off at full speed on the right-wing tangent, onto terrain where it is not appropriate for the tenant of Palazzo Chigi to push forward (see the episode of the reckless attacks on the Head of the State), within the Brothers of Italy, care is also taken not to leave the vote of opinion of centre-right moderates, or of those who do not feel post-Berlusconian but not Renzian or Calendian, entirely to Forza Italia.
