Lega, Salvini: there will be a political secretariat and we will update the symbol

The extraordinary congress of the League which will be held in Milan on 24 and 25 October will be an opportunity to provide the party with a political secretariat and to review the party's symbol. These are the news announced by the secretary of the Carroccio, Matteo Salvini, at the end of the Federal Council in via Bellerio called to ratify the regulations of the extraordinary congress and to proceed with its convocation.

«The congress is the best time to put ideas on the table, so anyone who brings them will be welcome. I have chosen to provide the League with a political secretariat to share honors and burdens. We will certainly also update the symbol because the world changes and the League runs: we are proud of our roots from our past, we live in the present and we prepare for the future", explained Salvini, who, when asked for details on the symbol and the new secretariat, limited himself to replying: "We will talk about it at the congress".

At the congress, with Salvini's candidacy alone, will there be a secret vote? "Let's leave the secret vote to Parliament and the snipers, there has always been an open vote" the League leader replied again. Then «if there are more candidates for secretaries, obviously the vote is secret in the ballot box and everyone will vote for the secretary they want, added Salvini who last month, after the surprise announcement made in Pontida of the extraordinary congress, had declared that he expected «someone else's candidacy».

A candidacy that everything suggests will not happen. The wing of Northern governors (Attilio Fontana, Massimiliano Fedriga, Maurizio Fugatti and the former Luca Zaia) who have been pressing for months for a relaunch of the Northern question and a federal structure of the party (on the model of the Bavarian CDU/CSU alliance) will not take to the track with an alternative candidate to Salvini, also because the delegates of the congress will be the same ones, loyal to the secretary, who elected Salvini as leader of the party until 2029 in the Florence congress last year.

When asked if he expects at least one motion from the Northern "dissidents", Salvini replied: «I expect documents from everyone. There are no dissenters. I hope that the congress will bring many ideas and contributions and that all those who have something to say and give will come. If someone decides not to come, I feel sorry for them. The congress is open, there will be people from all over Italy, there are people who will travel 800 km to come and listen and speak and therefore I hope that there are people who bring ideas and make proposals, perhaps some of these proposals are also useful".

Even a motion by the "northernists" to formalize the minority position in the party is in fact unlikely at the moment. "I don't know if we will make a motion." "It is not certain that there are motions from the governors, we are seeing the points under discussion." «I certainly hope that in general the theme of territorial autonomy can be valorised» declared the president of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Massimiliano Fedriga.