The showdown has begun. The tear of Forza Italia from the pro-Draghi majority, with the choice to boycott confidence in the government, is exacerbating a latent division in the former leading party of the center-right: on the one hand, the “governist” bloc, represented in the executive by the ministers Brunetta, Carfagna and Gelmini; on the other hand, the faction closest to the sovereign bloc of Lega and Fratelli d’Italia, associated above all with Senator Licia Ronzulli and the current forces leaders.
The most sensational demarcation came with the farewell of one of the ministers, the head of regional affairs Maria Stella Gelmini, furious with a party that has “turned its back on the Italians” and “on its history”. But discontent is growing, with some exponents opposing the line agreed by founder Berlusconi and allies Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni. Italian senator Andrea Cangini has announced his vote in favor of confidence, in open dissent with the decision of his group. He may not be the only one.
The clash between “dragonians” and sovereignists
The government crisis has exacerbated tensions that had been brewing for some time, under the guise of cohesion in the Draghi government. The party seems to be split more and more clearly between a “draghian” current, with a centrist tone, and one that is closer to the axis with the Lega and Fratelli d’Italia. The second prevailed, with the culmination of the decision to boycott Draghi’s vote of confidence and join the electoral campaign already launched by the allies. The coexistence between the two souls had already created some fibrillation, with some personal distances and the multiplication of initiative in a break – more or less – opened with the Arcore line. In addition to individual cases, such as the resignation of Senator Elio Vito, Forza Italia has seen the creation of center-right ribs that have given hospitality to former exponents disappointed by the party’s “sovereign” turn. The main example is Coraggio Italia, a centrist abbreviation today led by the mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro and the president of the Liguria region Giovanni Toti.
The tensions will only intensify now, with the collapse of the Draghi majority and the – probable – start of an electoral campaign for voting in the autumn. Today the polls credit Forza Italia as the least influential shareholder in a possible center-right coalition, with consensus of less than 10% and a transfer of some exponents first to the League and, more recently, to the ranks of the Brothers of Italy. However, the forc leadership does not seem to have doubts about the position of the party, indicated several times by its coordinator Antonio Tajani as a “liberal, Christian, pro-European and guarantor” center of gravity in an unbalanced right-wing coalition.
Internal unity is less obvious, at least judging by the sparks that would have been triggered today between two prominent exponents such as Minister Gelmini herself and Senator Licia Ronzulli, indicated as one of the most influential voices in the pro-Northern League area of Forza Italia . Gelmini explained that her farewell is due to the subordination of her ex-party to Salvini’s line. “When a populist League dictates the line, concerned only with chasing Giorgia Meloni, these are the results,” she said. The reference was “only” to the fall of the government and toultimatum imposed by the center-right on Draghi, aggravating a crisis that seemed destined to resolve itself within the day. Now it sounds more like an account of the breakup, what may be just starting out in Berlusconi’s party.