Autonomy, the Salvini Meloni pact (and the race) to vote for it in the Chamber on 29 April

ROMA – On differentiated autonomy, two more meetings are scheduled for hearings next week (from the 8th to the 10th), no more than two days of general discussion (never so few, not even for decrees), then we move on to the amendments which, peremptory deadline, they will have to be examined and voted before the holiday of April 25th, i.e. on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th. In Montecitorio’s Constitutional Affairs commission there is a race against time.

But the acceleration imposed, amidst the discontent of many of the center-right itself, is armored. It arises from an agreement between the majority group leaders on the mandate of the leaders Matteo Salvini e Giorgia Meloni. On April 29th federalism à la carte that the League intends to wave at the European elections, will be in the chamber to be voted on quickly. And the acceleration is two-faced: on the one hand on autonomy, on the other on the premiership, the “mother of all reforms” for Meloni. Here too, the frost between Northern League members and Melonians has thawed: on the 23rd there will be the green light from the Senate commission for the constitutional reform to elect the head of government in view of its arrival in the chamber.

At a normal pace there would not have been time to cash in on the differentiated autonomy before the European elections. But the minister of the League, Roberto Calderoli, who didn’t miss an audition, made things clear: no delays. It goes fast. Luca Zaia, the Northern League governor of Veneto, was heard at a hearing on Wednesday and defended autonomy vigorously, attacking the left who define it as the “Split Italy” law. “I hear statements that mean nothing. The secession of the rich? What does it mean? We are not the Dachshund Gang that steals from your neighbor at night.” So for the Northern League supporters it is simply a matter of reaching final approval, having already received the first approval from Palazzo Madama.

The centre-right should no longer present any amendments, having found a balance in the Senate where the Brothers of Italy corrected the Northern League text by admitting necessary protections for the disadvantaged regions and the South in general. But Pd, 5Stelle and Avs are ready for an avalanche of amendments. Complaint Simona Bonafè, dem group leader in the constitutional affairs commission: “The timetable on differentiated autonomy is a serious stretch and a profound breach of the democratic dialectic. The majority bargains at the expense of citizens for mere electoral interests. To arrive in the chamber on April 29, the commission’s work has been scheduled with times and methods that cannot allow serious work on the merits”. In short, the opposition is not in favor of this and could immediately obstruct. Bonafè again: It is not acceptable that a provision that enters so deeply into the organization of the State and the daily lives of citizens is addressed with this haste and ease just because it is part of a disgusting majority barter.”

The M5s speaks of a measure that is “unfortunate and irresponsible but in any case extremely delicate and complex”. Alfonso Colucci. Therefore, it is even more unacceptable to impose forced stages in a few sessions to campaign on the back of citizens’ social justice.” In the bureau of the commission, where the road map was established, the former minister of the South is also critical of the timing, Mara Carfagna. However, the president of Constitutional Affairs, the Forza Italia supporter Nazario Pagano he said that the votes on autonomy will take place “in all the spaces permitted by the work of the Assembly” from the 22nd to the 24th. Autonomy will allow the Regions that request it to completely manage 23 matters, in this sense it is a devolution for example on schools, healthcare, energy networks. Zaia recalled that in the consultative referendum two million and 238 thousand Venetians voted for autonomy. The other referendum was held in Lombardy with Bobo Maroni governor.