“Let’s not talk about the Quirinale. The center-right is united: we must also join the federation with Fdi. The candidates? Next time we must select them with democratic choices”. Like this Silvio Berlusconi he breaks the traditional electoral silence, after having voted in the Milanese polling station in Via Fratelli Ruffini, a stone’s throw from the Last Supper, accompanied by his long-time collaborator and friend, Fedele Confalonieri. All the leaders limited themselves in their utterances, launching at most an appeal for participation, in order to avoid the risk of mass abstention. The only one who does not resist the temptation to speak, perhaps thanks to the long post-covid silence, is the Knight himself. Today as has happened other times in the past.
The former premier, in full physical recovery, – “I’m fine”, replies to reporters – announces that after a long time, as early as next week, he will return to Rome, where he makes it clear that he wants to fully recover the leadership of Forza Italia. “I am waiting for the results of the last exams, and I think they are all good to be able to resume normal activity”, he assures confidently. Then he shys away from his well-known quirinales aspirations: “As long as there is a President of the Republic who honors his role, it is better not to talk about it”. Then he throws water on the fire of the internal controversies of the center-right: “He is united, and there is also affection among the leaders. All these allegations of some part of the press about internal divisions are not founded.”
He is also calm on the heated topic of the coalition’s future leadership: “We’ll see. There is a rule in the center-right that says that the votes will determine who will have precedence in responsibility.” The objective remains the federation with Salvini, who says: “we have not put him aside”. “We have only specified with the League that an agreement should be made that also includes the Brothers of Italy. So we have to make a bigger one”. Finally, a jab at the practices used so far by the coalition in the selection of candidates, coming to hypothesize a form of primary: “The candidates for mayors are those who come out of the choices of this or that party leader, rather than from democratic choices, so perhaps – concludes Berlusconi – next time we will have to change the system “.