Ready, go. And the government immediately falls twice in the chamber. The first steps in the marathon that will lead to the launch of the Budget by Christmas took place for Schifani on terrain made very slippery by the obstructionism of the opposition and the friendly fire of the snipers. To be precise, the government fell on a vote regarding the budget. Sala d’Ercole approved with 33 votes in favor and 28 against an amendment by the 5 Star Movement, first signatory Roberta Schillaci, which allocates nine million over three years for public school building plans. The Government and the Budget Committee had given a contrary opinion on the amendment. At that point, seeing that amendments of even greater specific weight were about to arrive, the rotating president of the Ars (by a twist of fate the 5 Star Nuccio Di Paola) suspended the session.
Before entering the chamber, speaking with the Dire agency, President Schifani said he was optimistic about the budget and budget path: “I have great confidence, there is a serene climate. We will bring home a budget made up of important rules for the development of Sicily”. Schifani confirmed that he is working to purify the text from the legal provisions “as requested by the opposition. The climate is serene. We will go to the chamber with a streamlined text that will contain all the fundamental regulations studied by the government, such as those to encourage hiring and southern working”.
But when work resumed, the government fell again and again with a secret vote. This time on an amendment that the executive had presented on the proposal of the education councilor Mimmo Turano: the law would have increased the budget for private nursery schools. The vote ended with just 22 votes in favor and 33 against: assuming that the entire opposition (23 deputies) was in the chamber, the outcome of the secret vote indicates that there were at least 10 snipers. But they could also be more.