Sicily, today the Council convened by Schifani: resignation hypothesis

The President of the Region brings together the government. "More urgent measures" are on the agenda, but the specter of an internal crisis hovers over the meeting following the party's backtracking on the hypothesis of a candidacy for a second term which seemed obvious a few weeks earlier

The Sicilian regional council convened by governor Renato Schifani meets today, 8 October. "More urgent measures" are on the agenda, but the possibility of resignation with an early vote hangs heavy in the air. In fact, the frost between the President of the Region and the leaders of Forza Italia has not thawed after the party backtracked on its re-nomination for a second mandate which until a few weeks ago seemed obvious and endorsed by all its allies.

Tensions in the party

Schifani made no mention of the crisis and his confidentiality remains absolute, but it is well known that he did not appreciate the change in strategy learned through the newspapers and that the telephone call on 6 October with Antonio Tajani did not improve the situation and that the tension also continues with the regional commissioner Nino Minardo, who invoked the need "for a completely new political proposal" for Sicily, hit by various judicial investigations involving politicians from the majority and men close to the government, such as Gaetano Armao who resigned from the position of legal advisor to the governor immediately after the request for arrest for corruption by the Palermo Prosecutor's Office.

The hypotheses on the table

The hypotheses on Schifani's moves range from the aforementioned resignation to the elimination of the regional council, up to the extreme attempt to heal the fracture by indicating a shared path to continue the legislature at least until next spring. "I have proposed a meeting in Rome for 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", said Minardo, even if there is still no date for this meeting.

The allies confirm their trust in Schifani

Meanwhile, Schifani has gained the trust of his allies, even the more weighty ones such as the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa who, according to sources close to him, "has never entered into the internal affairs of a party" and "has always appreciated the work of the President of the Region". For the deputy national secretary of the League Claudio Durigon, however, the party is "working very well with president Schifani. An internal issue has arisen within Forza Italia and we hope they will resolve it in order to continue the work we are doing". Christian Democracy and the Movement for Autonomy also express "appreciation for Schifani's work".

What would happen with resignation

If, however, the crisis were to prove irrecoverable and lead to the governor's resignation, the first window for voting would be December 13, the Assembly would be dissolved and until that date the government would limit itself to ordinary administration. This would make it impossible to present the stability package at the end of the year and the start of the provisional exercise for the Region with compressed spending which would cause quite a few problems in the crucial months of the electoral campaign. Furthermore, for first-term regional deputies, voting at the end of the year would result in failure to reach the social security threshold of 4 years, 6 months and 1 day, which would only accrue in May 2027.