“Salvini will disappear. Conte is surpassing the politicians in an excellent way. Renzi has failed”
“At the European elections we will get 4.2%. Meloni will resign in the autumn. Salvini will disappear. Conte is outdoing the politicians in an excellent way. Renzi has failed.” Cateno De Lucaleader of the Freedom List, speaks across the board with Affaritaliani.it.
THE INTERVIEW
Alessandra Ghisleri at Porta a Porta gives the Libertà List at 3.7%. Will you exceed the 4% threshold in the European elections on 8-9 June?
“I have already predicted that our result will be 4.2%. For us the polls are clues and I consider them as such. I am running on the electoral campaign and I am not distracted by the polls, of course Ghisleri’s data confirm constant growth everywhere”.
Will Giorgia Meloni finally say yes to Ursula von der Leyen by allying herself with the left and Elly Schlein’s Democratic Party? Is the prime minister just hiding the truth so as not to lose votes?
“The prime minister is a champion of chameleonism. She had said that she would remove excise duties on fuel, that she would implement a naval blockade to stop migrants, that she would reduce the relationship with the European Union. She is doing exactly the opposite. D’ moreover, he needs Ursula’s cover for the reform of the Stability Pact given that Italy is now a sieve. Meloni has no choice, in the electoral campaign he says A and when he administers he does the opposite, that is Z”.
Will the League still exist after the European Championships or is it destined to disappear?
“Salvini will disappear. The League of celodurists will return. This living room League of ‘Matteo Verdini’ is no longer tolerated by those who founded it. On 22 September 2023 I met Umberto Bossi and he explained to me that the original plan was not to annex the South but to urge the birth of federalist movements in the South against the centralism of Rome and today also of Brussels”.
Is the blank Def the premise for a blood and tears Budget Law? Where and what will they cut?
“I would define the Def launched by the government as a super-cazzola that reproduces itself. On the eve of the European elections they couldn’t put down on paper what will happen due to the EU Pact. They certainly couldn’t write that they won’t keep their promises on the tax wedge and on many others themes. But after the vote the rigor of austerity will kick in and Meloni will think about resigning early so as not to pay the consequences of austerity with the Budget Law. I’m thinking of his resignation in the autumn, which is inevitable. A sort of Papeete in reverse. There’s no these are the conditions for the prime minister and the government to manage the situation given the public finances and EU rules”.
No breakthrough on Ukraine. Does Meloni obey Biden now… or not?
“Practically speaking, I have in mind Biden’s kiss on Meloni’s forehead which confirms Italy’s total subservience to the US, the result of Meloni’s transformation, after many years of opposition, into a parlor politician. We are Biden’s branch.”
In Bari and Puglia the Democratic Party was overwhelmed by investigations. Is clientelism an isolated fact or is it the Democratic Party’s system for obtaining consensus?
“The malpractice of annexing people to obtain consensus is a pathology that affects everyone. By chance it affected the Democratic Party in Bari, but we know that it also happened to the Brothers of Italy. We cannot suffer the double standards of those who want to collect a few more votes in an unseemly way. The ras of the vote move without any problem in the total indifference of the Roman-centric national parties which have lost all contact with the territories”.
The M5S seems to raise its voice but then makes agreements with the Democratic Party as in Florence and Basilicata. Is Conte credible?
“Conte is incredible. He knows how to seize the right moment to maximize the result. His party is like Coca Cola, a brand used by retailers in the area who must not question the owner of the brand. I remember that in Sicily at the Regionals Conte the result of the primaries held with the Democratic Party and won by Caterina Chinnici only to maximize the result of the political elections was torn up. Conte is overcoming the political pundits in an excellent way.”
Renzi has put together a small coalition to beat Calenda and exceed 4%. Does the Third Pole and the center still exist?
“Renzi and Calenda are like the thieves of Pisa: during the day they argue and at night they steal together. Renzi has totally failed and has gone to be protected by Emma Bonino, who absolutely does not want agreements with Cuffaro and Mastella. And in fact Renzi has had to renege the Il Centro project, which had already started. Renzi and his United States of Europe were supposed to contain 8-10 symbols and instead it is a total flop. Renzi has failed, I have nothing else to add”.
Does President Mattarella have any responsibility in the chaos of Italian politics?
“The Colle has a fair equidistance and impartiality to safeguard democracy, an authoritative institution that I appreciate. Italy’s pathology is not the presidency of the Republic but the drift of the parties and the system that send flying donkeys into Parliament”.
Why did Captain Ultimo choose to run with you?
“I met him five years ago at a conference on the mafia in Rosolini, in the province of Syracuse. He asked me for my telephone number after our interventions and we met in his center to assist the most vulnerable on the outskirts of Rome. I told him I asked him if he felt like giving me a hand given his history of defeating the system which suffers from many pathologies and he accepted because he believes like me that the system needs to be profoundly changed”.