Resignation with early vote already in mid-December? Truce with a shared political path to continue the legislature at least until next spring? Reset of the council? President's government? These are the questions circulating in centre-right circles in full excitement over the imminent moves of the governor of Sicily in response to the crisis opened with the leaders of Forza Italia due to the party's about-face on his re-nomination for the second mandate, which seemed to be a done deal after the endorsements of a few weeks ago from all the allies. Renato Schifani has convened the council for tomorrow with "more urgent measures" on the agenda and among the hypotheses there would also be resignation. At the moment the confidentiality is maximum: Schifani, present this morning at a conference in Palermo, made no mention of the crisis. And he remained silent while the most disparate conjectures were made among the centre-right leaders. What is certain is that the governor did not like the treatment he received at all: having learned the party's decisions from the press, without having been consulted. Hence the heated tones in the phone call with Antonio Tajani last night and the harsh reaction to the position of the Sicilian commissioner Nino Minardo on the need "for a completely new political proposal" for Sicily and a change of pace after the many judicial investigations that involved majority politicians and men close to the government, such as Gaetano Armao who resigned as legal advisor to the governor immediately after the request for arrest for corruption by the Palermo Prosecutor's Office. The Sherpas of the centre-right are working to try to heal the fracture. And Minardo also extends his hand: "I have proposed a meeting in Rome in the next few days in the presence of the national secretary of Forza Italia Antonio Tajani and the president of the Sicilian Region Renato Schifani. Together we will establish the political path". There isn't a date yet. A possible direct intervention by Tajani could at least soften the tone to buy time, while the allies confirm their trust in Schifani. Sources close to Ignazio La Russa let it be known that the President of the Senate "has never entered into the internal affairs of a party" and "what is certain is that he has always appreciated the work of the President of the Region". The deputy national secretary of the League Claudio Durigon adds: "We are working very well with President Schifani. An internal issue has arisen within Forza Italia and we hope they will resolve it so we can continue the work we are doing." "Appreciation for Schifani's work" also from the DC and Mpa. In the case of resignation, the first window to vote would be December 13th, until that date the government would limit itself to ordinary administration and the Assembly would be dissolved. No stability measures at the end of the year and the Region is in provisional operation with compressed spending and problems of no small importance in the crucial months of the electoral campaign. On a political level, the vote at the end of the year would also have a direct effect on first-term regional deputies, because the social security threshold of 4 years, 6 months and 1 day only matures in May 2027.
This article was originally published by
ANSA Politica.
