Massimiliano Romeo's fate at the helm of the Lega senators seems sealed. But postponed for ten days.
The assembly of the Northern League members is convened on November 17th and will decide whether to discredit the group leader at Palazzo Madama (an assembly actually requested on Tuesday but officially 'agreed' the following week for reasons of the Senate's calendar). And the fact that one of the great protestors in the Northern League does not get to eat panettone - in the image suggested by journalists - is also made clear by Matteo Salvini: "The majority of senators seem to have a clear idea. But ask them", the secretary dismisses the question in the crowd at Eicma, the two-wheel show in Milan where he returned with his family and stayed for hours.
He adds that he won't be there. Just like he didn't join the signature collection. Politeness and reasons of expediency that also pushed others not to expose themselves. But 20 out of 29 senators had no doubts. Not even on his successor, taking it for granted, in a low voice, that he will be Marco Dreosto, coordinator of the League in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Internal disputes aside, Salvini remains focused on the maneuver. And he reiterates that the priorities do not change: defending pensions with 'Quota 64', sending more soldiers for "Safe Streets" and confirming the rent fund for separated parents.
He also announces that on Monday at the Council of Ministers he will propose another name for the presidency of the Anac, after the about-face of the Northern League member Nuccio Altieri. And if the opposition rejoices having pushed for the reverse, Salvini still defends him: "I'm sorry, he is a person of absolute level and the requirements were met". Who knows if the League will be able to find an alternative that is still close to the party but less divisive.
Of course, now the cracks are different and all internal. Concentrate, in the short term, on Romeo's fate, experienced as the first showdown in the Northern League. In the crosshairs are the "northernists", who have been hammering for months to restore priority to the North and build a federalist League. Battle shared by the governors Massimiliano Fedriga and Maurizio Fugatti, who then retreated leaving Romeo and the Lombard governor Attilio Fontana in sight. An 'affront' that the group leader could also pay with the commissionership of the Lombard League, which he has led since 2024. A hypothesis that has not been completely archived, although Salvini has excluded it from the agenda by denying purges and "massacres of the innocent".
But he certainly gave a signal about the Lombardy congresses: all suspended except for the one in Varese tomorrow, which can no longer be postponed. The suspicion is that in the provinces of Lombardy where the decline in consensus is most severe, candidates close to the rebel branch, often outgoing, may win. This is the case of Andrea Cassani who is running for secretary again. He does not define himself as anti-Salvin but supported Massimo Garavaglia in the race against the leader at the congress.
To confirm the suspicions and the consequent disappointment, memes are circulating on social media depicting, for example, Salvini wearing the uniform of Captain Findus and the writing "100% frozen Po Valley Congresses".
The one from Varese is safe and tomorrow morning Fontana will be there in Albizzate and Giancarlo Giorgetti could also appear, as they are both registered there. The province has 580 militants and in the last European elections it got 14%. But in the golden age of the League - Cassani recalls - when the party achieved 34%, Varese reached 46%. "Now, however, we are losing our role as interlocutors of companies and the north - the secretary of Varese stings - to the detriment of other legitimate issues such as security and immigration. But we were born as a local union and this weighs on the consensus".
