FdI’s silence reveals the embarrassment. A Melonian in government, with the microphones turned off, admits that the problem is not small: «The fact that the prosecutors have requested a trial is an extra step, which does not leave us indifferent». Opposition leaders, from Schlein to Conte, are calling for his resignation and pulling the prime minister by the jacket to throw Santanché out of the government. Yet for the entrepreneur it is not yet time to step back. «Nothing has changed. Have I been convicted? No – she said to her colleagues who called her on the phone – Am I being sent to trial? No. And I’m very confident, I really think it won’t happen».
Avoiding indictment is the only hope that Santanché has of keeping his job as head of Tourism, which is tempting for the League (and not only). The political issue now is what Giorgia Meloni will do. The secretary of the Democratic Party asks her to “respect the institutions” and the leader of the M5S provokes her: “It’s a shame he didn’t nominate Santanché together with Sgarbi!”. But barring sudden changes in direction, the right-wing leader will not pick up the phone to ask the minister to resign. Obviously he is not happy that this lightning struck on the roof of Palazzo Chigi just a few days after he took to the field for the European Championships and his speech in Pescara, where he vindicated the beauty of the FdI ruling class. But the red line drawn by Meloni is the process. If and when Santanché is sent to trial, the armor will fall to pieces and «Daniela» will have to leave.
The opposition goes wild and the tom tam begins in Parliament. Who could replace Santanché at Turismo? Will the League or FdI prevail? And is it true that the Prime Minister has already decided, in the event of a trial, to keep her powers on an interim basis? As proof of an annoyance that is renewed at every step of the judicial investigation, Palazzo Chigi is choosing the no comment path for now. To find out what the woman who leads the government thinks, you have to go back back to mid-Aprilwhen Roberta Benvenuto from Piazza Pulita chased her among the Vinitaly stands. President Meloni, does the Santanché case risk weakening the government? «No, I don’t think it can weaken the government. I intervene when I think I need to intervene, that is, when the picture is clear. It is right to let the magistrates work.” And in case of indictment? “We will evaluate this in due course if she were to be sent to trial” replied the irritated Prime Minister, spreading her arms and emphasizing her accents: “Commenting on things before they happen is not very sensible for a Prime Minister.”
The area that, behind the scenes, fiercely defends Santanché, it is the one that reports to the president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa. The guaranteeist line holds for now, but the suffering within FdI (and in the government) is increasingly higher. The only aspect evaluated positively by all the Melonians is that none of them expects an indictment before the European elections.
