VARESE – On Saturday he took on the blows of, trying to conceal his irritation Umberto Bossi who from Gemonio called for a “new leader”. The next day he removed a few pebbles from his shoe. Doing it under the radar, without exaggerating, because with just two months to go before the European elections, with the wind in the air, the polls certainly not reaching double figures and Forza Italia’s purchasing campaign, it is better to regroup rather than cause internal divisions to explode.
From the party for the 40th anniversary of the League, in front of a square of militants waiting for the ritual selfie, Matteo Salvini thanks the absent founder, but some passages of his speech from the stage, set up under the first historic headquarters of the Carroccio in Piazza del Podestà, sound like a vindication.
Of course, Bossi is Bossi, “everything is forgiven” and, Salvini says, “Controvento”, the book coming out soon, is also dedicated to him, together with Maroni. Because “without him we wouldn’t be here and millions of Italians wouldn’t talk about freedom.” But there are a number of “buts”. In fact, Salvini remembers Roberto Maroni, “who took the baton and guided the League in the most complicated months”. That is, those in which Bossi’s leadership was overwhelmed by the judicial investigation into the former treasurer Francesco Belsito which caused the now famous 49 million budget hole. And then he claims the work done “to the best of my ability” in ten years as secretary (“also taking risks in the private sector”, he says with perhaps implicit reference to those who have not yet exposed themselves). «I have grown a party – he claims – which now has 500 mayors throughout Italy». And that, notes the Lombard regional coordinator Fabrizio Cecchetti«reached 34%» with the 2019 European Championships.
The backstory
League, Salvini tries to resist Bossi’s attacks to compete at the congress. But now she fears a directory
by Emanuele Lauria
The secretary underlines that his League “has the task of working for peace”, underlines together with Minister Valditara the actions implemented to stem “Islamic fanaticism which is the evil of 2024″ and above all claims the arrival of ” longed for” Autonomy, with the reform that will go to Parliament on 29 April. Has the League lost its Northern vocation according to Bossi? Salvini boasts of having a Northern League mayor in Potenza and a candidate in Bari. For Giancarlo Giorgetti, “called” yesterday by Bossi to replace Salvini, the League has rules “made of hierarchy and discipline, but which must never become servility”, and has “a history made up of great intuitions and also mistakes” which were then “corrected”. And “precisely from this experience we understood that we must never give up”. Not even now that, no one is saying it but the fear is palpable, the vote for Brussels is an uphill path: «We need more Italy and less Europe and I hope that in the centre-right – says Salvini addressing the coordinator of Forza Italia Antonio Tajani — no one prefers to continue to govern with the left rather than with the League and the League’s allies.”
Bossi against Salvini: “The League needs a new leader”. The deputy prime minister: “He has been criticizing me for 30 years”
by our correspondent Federica Venni
The ministers also speak from the stage Giuseppe Valditarawhich highlights the crusade against the Pioltello school closed for Ramadan by announcing that «schools will no longer be able to close during holidays not recognized by the State», Roberto Calderoli and the Lombard governor Attilio Fontana. Autonomy, a “gift for 40”, is on everyone’s lips. A militant says: “Dear Bossi, in the end we brought her home.” There is also some pre-election handouts, such as the 180 million promised by Valditara against school dropouts in the North. Just as there is no lack, among some important managers, of some notes on the Captain’s conduct. For the group leader in the Senate Massimiliano Romeo, “this party is the right opportunity” to “start again from the territory and from the militants, trying to listen to them a little more”. Also the leader of the House Riccardo Molinari, explaining that «Bossi is the boss, he is listened to and respected, he doesn’t comment», brings the bar back towards the voters and the compass to the North: «The discomforts of the base must be listened to and there is a northern issue to be brought back to the center of the agenda”. Once the declarations are over there is a group photo: the provincial secretary also takes the stage Andrea Cassani, and some parliamentarians, from Iezzi to Ravetto. Among the audience there is also the “dissident” Angelo Ciocca. The soundtrack of the risotto is quite varied: from Gaber and De André, from Annalisa to Rose Villain. From the window of the historic headquarters, in the building where Giuseppe Garibaldi also stayed, a banner hangs: “Capo (Bossi ed.), Bobo, Matteo, a history of us Lega”. But the present, as we have seen in recent days, divides.
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– 2024-04-14 22:36:34
