La Russa: 'The name for Milan in November'. Arm wrestling FI-Lega

There is another deadline in the centre-right's long race to choose the mayoral candidate for Milan. It is set by the president of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, who has been active on the match for months, convinced that the first days of November will be "the right ones" for a definitive decision, immediately after the extraordinary congress of the League which will be held next weekend in the city.

On that occasion, the secretary Matteo Salvini will insist, as he has done recently, on the name of the MEP Silvia Sardone, who has been on the electoral campaign for weeks now, as is the undersecretary of Defense Matteo Perego, the man Forza Italia is banking on. For La Russa, a choice on the candidate will come "regardless" of the Northern League congress. An initial deadline, which was later missed, was set for the summer. But now "the time - assures the President of the Senate - is close".

Meanwhile, the engines of the center-left are also warming up. The journalist Mario Calabresi is ready to run the primaries, as is the deputy mayor Anna Scavuzzo. The activist Tommaso Goisis presented his candidacy today and soon the leader of the Pd group in Lombardy Pierfrancesco Majorino will also do so.

On the centre-right table, in addition to those of Perego and Sardone, the name of the leader of Noi Moderati Maurizio Lupi also remains, pushed by La Russa, who was unable to convince the allies. The tug-of-war continues between Forza Italia and the League after the sparks of last week, with the Azzurri also inviting the Carroccio to consider the solo race.

Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani continues to repeat that Perego is "the best candidate that the center-right can field", but avoids attacks on the League by underlining that in any case "we will talk about it with the allies with great serenity and without divisions". But Perego, Tajani further points out, being undersecretary of Defense is "a great expert in security matters" which is "the main problem of the Milanese". For Salvini, however, the best profile is that of Sardone. The MEP, meanwhile, invites us to "choose quickly" because if we vote in spring it means that "April is around the corner" and that "time is needed" to carry out an electoral campaign where the centre-right, with polls in hand, is starting at a disadvantage. If the choice does not fall on her, the MEP still says she is ready to "run with the League and in this way support whoever will run", but with the hope that the others will also "do the same things with the roles reversed".

Otherwise, she insists, there should be primaries, which she is convinced she will win: "They are not the only way - observes the Northern League member - but they are a useful tool" if there is no agreement. An agreement which, however, will be found according to Perego: "I am convinced that our leaders will choose the best candidate in the interests of the Milanese. We will leave the primaries - he explains - to the left, which needs it because it does not agree on anything. A system that works can only be changed if there is a better one".