Santanchè case, Meloni’s line: away from the government only if sent to trial. The prime minister is ready to take her place on an interim basis

With the closure of the line of investigations into the collapse of the Visibilia company, after that into the irregular management of the funds made available by the State during the Covid-19 period, the Santanchè case continues to remain on the table of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In the latest investigation, the prosecutors believe that the FdI senator, together with her sister Fiorella Garnero, her niece Silvia Garnero, her partner Dimitri Kunz, her ex-partner Canio Mazzaro and others, falsified from 2016 to 2022, to gain «unfair profit”, the financial statements of Visibilia Editore, which have reported “significant” losses since 2014. Meloni did not publicly say anything about the affair involving her government’s Tourism Minister after the vote in parliament which renewed her confidence, but in private she sent her a message of support in the last few hours: «Go ahead each tall and courageously.” A few lines that would seem to secure Santanchè’s position in the executive, but not at any cost. For Meloni, in fact, the red line is indictment. If a judge third to the prosecutors accusing her were to believe that the conditions exist for proceeding, based on what was gathered by the magistrates, then the prime minister could ask Santanchè to take a step back. The investigating judge, according to the Corriere della Sera, will not express herself before the summer, so the senator still has several months ahead of her. And the decision will come after the European and municipal elections. Those of Bari for example, where the judicial question has taken on relevance with the investigations that have affected the Municipality. And therefore the majority would not want to expose itself to easy criticism from the opposition which could accuse it of adopting double standards. For now, Meloni will not ask Santanchè to step aside, but if the investigating judge were to ask for a trial, the prime minister’s plan is to take on the role of tourism minister for herself, ad interim. Then giving the role of operational “minister” to the undersecretary, who is not named today, as he explains the Republic. Among the possible candidates, the deputy Gianluca Caramanna, the deputy group leader in the Chamber Manlio Messina, the senator Gianni Berrino, Sebastiano Pappalardo who is today on the Enit board of directors, or the regional councilor for Tourism in Calabria Fausto Orsomarso.

Read also: