Forza Italia’s call-up and the «slow» memberships of the center-left
It’s the honorable «signers». Deputies with a clear predominance of the centre-right. To be precise, the majority of Forza Italia, convened by group leader Paolo Barelli, even though it’s Monday morning and the Chamber of Deputies is working with the brakes on. On the second floor of the Parliamentary Groups building, where the Chamber of Deputies elections committee is located, signatures are collected to be deposited with the Supreme Court of Cassation to request a referendum on justice. Eighty are needed here and forty in the Senate. This is the small, but symbolic, event of the day. The first derby. A «warm-up» match between the two teams that will be measured for months before the final scheduled for March. No running, a jog at most. In front of a manager of Montecitorio, in a notary version, there are two sheets of paper. The first gathers the support of opposition deputies (except IV and Azione) who will call for a popular vote to reject the reform. The second, on the contrary, ranks the center-right MPs who first moved to «call» the referendum. At the end of the evening the partial result will be: around forty signatures from the majority and around ten from the opposition. Revealing details, signs to be picked up? «I rushed on Friday, and I was among the first ever, after all my radical DNA remains», jokes Minister Eugenia Roccella, elected with FdI, a motivated supporter of the yes vote. Monday is therefore Forza Italia’s day as it prepares for «Justice Day Denied» on the occasion of the first notice of investigation against Silvio Berlusconi, November 22, 1994. «I was the first this morning out of conviction and affection towards the president», says Barelli. «I’m number seven: I’m playing as a midfielder», Giorgio Mulè, Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies, metaphorically goes. Francesco Battistoni, Roberto Bagnasco and Alessandro Battilocchio parade silently. Undersecretary Matilde Siracusano and MP Patrizia Marrocco bring joy. The latter improvises as a videographer for her colleague who wants to record a video for social media. House officials also confess to forbidding the “yes” MPs from taking selfies in front of papers. And the opposition? Latitan. Or rather: they take it easy. The first to show up is Andrea Casu of the Democratic Party: «We have encouraging signs». Few Northern League members have been spotted, but perhaps because many of those elected are not from Rome and will therefore present themselves calmly today. Chiara Colosimo, president of the Anti-Mafia Commission, emerges for the Brothers of Italy party, immersed in the papers of judges and prosecutors. She is accompanied by her colleague Luca Sbardella. The indication of Via della Scrofa is «go and sign». It is not known whether the Honorable Giorgia Meloni will do the same. However, last night’s pendulum hung in favor of a no vote. So did Antonio Tajani, elected to Montecitorio, and Matteo Salvini, senator. The tactic of «not customizing» also comes from the pen. Sara Kelany, also of FdI, one of the TV faces who must explain the reform, does her duty. It will be she, together with her colleague Enrico Costa (FI) and Simonetta Matone (Lega), who will bring the signatures of the deputies to the Supreme Court. «We’ll do it tomorrow (today, ed.)». Andrea Di Giuseppe, the most Trumpian Melonian MP in Parliament, recently landed in Fiumicino from the US (he holds a dual passport). «This reform will innovate Italy». In the afternoon, Ylenja Lucaselli will also sign, busy in the meantime following the work of the Budget Committee with her hands-free cell phone stored in her bag. Today it’s the senators’ turn.
