One thing is certain: since the president was arrested a month ago Giovanni Toti, neither he nor his government team thought for even an instant of taking a step back. Perhaps there were some well-silenced creaks during the hottest hours, but nothing more. The words of the governor in the letter delivered to the most faithful councilor are a living testimony to this Giacomo Giampedrone and arrived at the regional council through the voice of the councilor Alessandro Bozzanoin addition to the firm statement of the interim president Alessandro Piana: “We can continue until the end of the mandate”.
Are we moving forward with a president under house arrest, then? Until today this has clearly been the case and the opposition’s strenuous battles in asking for his resignation were of no avail, culminating in the motion of no confidence presented to the regional council and rejected en bloc by the compact majority.
The possible turning point could come after European elections. In fact, with the vote behind us, one of the reasons for the precautionary measure indicated in the custody order signed by the investigating judge Paola Faggioni: “The current and concrete danger that the suspect will commit other serious crimes of the same type as those being prosecuted, and in particular, that he may repeat, on the occasion of the next elections, similar corrupt conduct, placing his role at the service of private interests in exchange for utility for oneself or others”. That “during the next elections”, therefore, is close to expiring. And it is also the reason why, most likely, Toti has not yet submitted a request for the revocation of house arrest: the risk of receiving a “no” in response which would have indelibly stained his narrative of the great return is too high.
A matter of a few days and then a new chapter could be written in the investigation which has effectively overturned a political system that has governed Liguria for almost ten years.
There are many different possible scenarios in the event of Toti’s release from prison after the elections. The road that leads to possibilities resignation of the president it passes from the much-cited meeting with its majority. From the first days the president, through his lawyer Stefano Savi, made it known that to discuss any resignation he would first have to have a face to face meeting with the majority, thus linking the political destiny of the Region to the revocation of the measure. But the hypothesis of resignation also comes from Rome. The leaders of the governing parties are busy in the last hours of the electoral campaign, then they could get their hands on the Liguria issue after weeks of half-declarations in the name of waiting and guaranteeing. Above all, the prime minister Giorgia Meloni which never expressed itself on the merits, saying that it wanted to wait for Toti’s declarations and, therefore, logically, for his release from house arrest. Same line for Anthony Tajani, vice prime minister and secretary of Forza Italia. While the perplexity of the League, expressed through the voice of the undersecretary, is no secret Edward Rixi also in relation to the works for the new breakwater in the port of Genoa with the decision to send a ministerial commission on site.
The Ligurian council (and with it its majority) move forward unitedly, reject the motion of no confidence and therefore await the possible phone calls arriving from Rome after the European elections. When Toti could return to active politics while awaiting trial, meet the regional government team and, above all, hear from the leaders of the parties that support him.
The second road, however, goes into direction of continuity. If, once he leaves the house in Ameglia, Toti is invested with the trust that the regional council put in black and white with last Tuesday’s vote and if a thumbs up comes from Rome, then everything could really continue in the wake of what was said by the interim president, Alessandro Piana. It would continue until the end of the mandate, without early elections in the autumn and without reversals. The only knot to untie would be that of Toti’s successor, and here we would certainly be fishing among the loyalists who did not turn their backs on him in the most difficult days of his life. This is the case, above all, of his most faithful councilor James Giampedrone, the only one to have met the president in his home in Ameglia and recipient of the letter addressed to the regional council. Furthermore, in the last few hours Giampedrone has also received from the president the role of commissioner against hydrogeological instability in Liguria as well as being the member of the council with the greatest number of delegations. All eyes also on Ilaria Cavo, another historic ‘orange’ and who, among other things, is often heralded as one of the few names to emerge unscathed from wiretaps linked to the investigation with his “no” to dinners with members of the Riesi community. Finally, it’s impossible not to also think about Marco Scajolaanother Totiano of the first hour, face of the orange in Ponente, in the odor of passing the baton well before the investigation.
Provided that the governing parties (especially Fratelli d’Italia and Lega) are not thinking of getting their hands on the Ligurian regional government.
