The Regions led by the centre-left and the oppositions are forming a common front against differentiated autonomy. However, the Veneto governor Zaia must also guard himself against friendly fire.
The issue of differentiated autonomy is gaining momentum, and it’s a free-for-all: Government vs. Regions, right vs. left, North vs. South. The governor of Veneto Luca Zaia extends a hand to the Southern Regions and suggests they step forward, also saying he is willing to twin with a territory in the South to test the law and bring out any inequalities.
In the meantime, he hypothesizes an agreement for his region by the end of the year, naturally saying he is ready to present the requests for the subjects.
WHO ROWS AGAINST ZAIA WHO ACCELERATES ON DIFFERENTIATED AUTONOMY
Rowing against Zaia’s acceleration there is a broad and, in some ways, unexpected front. Obviously there is the opposition referendum committee, and there are the five regions of the center-left that this week should formalize the birth of a Coordination that will have to draw up a shared and ‘unassailable’ draft text for the abrogative referendum.
We are talking about Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Puglia and Campania led by the Democratic Party and Sardinia led by the M5S.
CAMPANIA AND TUSCANY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC ARE THE FIRST REGIONS TO REQUEST A REPEAL REFERENDUM
The Regional Council of Campania has already called an extraordinary and single-issue session for next Monday, with the request on the agenda, presented by the Democratic Party, the De Luca president group, Azione, Italia Viva and other forces of the majority, to call an abrogative referendum, “pursuant to Article 75 of the Constitution, of Law 26 June 2024, n. 86 (Provisions for the implementation of the differentiated autonomy of the Regions)”.
The Regional Council of Tuscany is also preparing to request a referendum to repeal the law on autonomy. “We met with the other Regions,” explains Assembly President Antonio Mazzeo, “and the text was shared. I should soon receive the draft resolution signed by the group leaders who want to join, and the process will start from there,” with the convocation of the chamber.
We will have to hurry, since in ten days at most the president of Emilia Romagna Stefano Bonaccini will have to resign to complete the administrative work necessary for his inauguration at the European Parliament on 16 July.
FRIENDLY FIRE ON ZAIA/1: FORZA ITALIA GOVERNORS ARE WALK-OVER
Not just the opposition. Even the governors of Forza Italia, an ally of the League, are hesitating or have said they are clearly against differentiated autonomy. As, for example, the president of the Calabria region, Roberto Occhiuto, did in recent days, bluntly commenting on the green light to the law as “a mistake of the center-right.” Or like the governor of Piedmont Alberto Cirio who, to the idea of twinning with the South launched by Zaia, responded by observing that “every idea is welcome if it can be good, but in Piedmont we already have a natural twinning with the South, many people from the South already live here, so we don’t need to propose a twinning, Italy is here.”
FRIENDLY FIRE ON ZAIA/2: STOP ALSO FROM MINISTER MUSUMECI (FDI)
Also putting a stop to Zaia’s accelerations and ambitions is the minister and former governor of Sicily Nello Musumeci, of the Brothers of Italy: “I am for differentiated autonomy, as long as disadvantaged regions are put in a position to all start from the same line. Zaia’s request seems absolutely premature to me. There is a problem of opportunity and politics must obey this unwritten rule. At this moment there are still some doubts even within the government majority that voted for that reform”. The response of the Northern League governor was not long in coming: “on autonomy I only asked for the application of the law”.
THE LONG AND BUMPYING PROCESS OF DIFFERENTIATED AUTONOMY
The road to differentiated autonomy will not be short, however, since among other things the complex process for determining the Lep will have to be completed, which also means the resources needed to guarantee the minimum and uniform level of services across the national territory, naturally within the limits of budget availability. Only at the end of this process can the functions be transferred to each individual region.
