Forza Italia like a powder keg. And it will be the meeting scheduled for lunchtime in Milan between Antonio Tajani, Marina Berlusconi, his brother Pier Silvio and Gianni Letta that will attempt to make a point. There are two main issues: the replacement of the group leader in the Chamber and the regional congresses.
After the change at the top of the Senate group, requested by the Mediaset president to encourage a new phase, Paolo Barelli is back in the spotlight as head of the deputies in the Chamber and very loyal to the deputy prime minister. Just under ten days ago, Tajani himself, according to what they had said, had not ruled out his farewell to the leadership of the party in the event of the replacement of the current president of deputies. Everything seemed frozen, at least until a few days ago.
But tension has started to rise again thanks also to the revolt of blue leaders taking place in many regions. An avalanche that hit Puglia, Sicily, Campania and lastly Lombardy and Sardinia. The request that comes from local leaders is always the same: “stop the conferences”.
A theme dear to the leader of Forza Italia who, on the contrary, would like to accelerate and then close with the national assembly in the spring of next year, before the political elections. The tensions of local leaders add to the chaos that reigns within the blue group of the Chamber. It is unlikely that Barelli will remain in his position, but finding his successor is also not easy.
Gianni Letta would also have been involved in the issue in the role of mediator between the deputy prime minister and the requests of the Berlusconi family. The name that circulates the most is that of Enrico Costa although in reality there are many Italian parliamentarians who, under the condition of anonymity, do not hide their discontent. The double farewell (first with Angelino Alfano and then in Azione di Calenda) to Forza Italia, which he returned to in 2024, will weigh on Costa.
Not only that, what complicates the picture is the search for a “way out” for the current group leader. Among the hypotheses there would be that of the government, in an empty box of those for undersecretary which Fdi or Lega should however decide to leave to the Azzurri. A hypothesis which, however, would not find confirmation among those who maintain that Barelli, being president of the Federnuoto, would be incompatible with government roles.
Among the rumors there would also be one that would see a double transition and that is the arrival of Maurizio Casasco in government with Barelli who at that point would become president of the supervisory commission on tax analysis, a position currently held by Casasco himself. In short, there are theories, such as the one which claims that, if Barelli were to resist leaving office, a meeting of the group would be called with the hypothesis of collecting signatures to disqualify him.