Giorgia Meloni, Pietro Senaldi's reconstruction: this is how he manages to steal votes from everyone

Congratulations to the Brothers of Italy. The vote in Umbria confirms the triumph of the center-right coalition and the revenge of Salvini, which emerges strengthened in consensus for having brought down the government. The Northern League leader took a step back in August to make two ahead of the next round, which will probably be before 2023, and to govern not as Conte's deputy and allied with the grillini but as prime minister at the head of a compact deployment. The Umbrian one is the first stage of the new approach to Palazzo Chigi and Salvini, in addition to himself, must also thank Meloni and Berlusconi for their success, which he has duly done. In particular, the work of Giorgia was precious, as, as she herself claimed yesterday in the heat, "she was given more to do than keep the coalition together".

Work paid off in terms of alliance and party. Brothers of Italy was the only force in the field that increased the votes compared to the Europeans in June. In 4 months the party won 13,000 voters (the League lost 17,000 and the M5S 35,000, just to get an idea), passed the grillini and became the third in the Region. "The center-right has grown thanks to Fdi" the leader proudly claimed, immediately putting her hands on: "And now we can have our say in Tuscany, to contribute to the identification of a winning candidate". The recipient of the message is Salvini, to whom Meloni has never denied collaboration but has always demanded greater political recognition.

QUESTION OF CLARITY
The Umbrian boom was possible thanks to the fact that Brothers of Italy stole votes from all the parties. Certainly to Berlusconi and to the League, but also to the Democratic Party and to Cinquestelle. The reasons are different. First of all the political coherence of Meloni was rewarded, the only one in the center-right not to have ever allied either with M5S or with the Pd. In these times of great confusion, in which people are tired of politics and follow it with detachment, the linearity and clarity of behavior are not a trivial matter, because they ensure the recognition of the party and are a guarantee to the electorate of seriousness and reliability .

Then there is the collapse of the so-called fascist ruling. Last week the Republic has dedicated an infamous portrait page to the Fdi leader, renamed for the occasion "the Queen of Coattonia", in which Meloni was described as the most insidious threat to democracy and human rights in Italy because, unlike Salvini, it has a more reassuring aspect. Except that the refrain of the man, or woman, black that the left intones every time someone appears able to beat it no longer works. The electorate is not afraid of Giorgia, she does not consider it a threat and indeed finds the things she says about immigrants, security, taxes, Europe reassuring, believing, on the other hand, the progressivists' theses to be disturbing. It happens when you do not arrive at the end of the month or fear for your safety.

The Umbrian vote recorded a change in the center of gravity of the center-right alliance, with Meloni able to steal the moderate vote in Forza Italia and the non-ideological protest vote to the grillini. The metamorphosis has already taken place in Europe, where Salvini is allied with Le Pen, Berlusconi with the EPP and FDI with the Reformist Conservatories, a median force between supranists and popular.

Brothers of Italy grows because Giorgia has succeeded where Fini has failed: she has widened the boundaries of AN, clearing it forever. It is this that makes the comrades get bored, who are not worried about Fdi's non-existent fascism, indeed they regret the nostalgic one of An, but of its full entry as a democratic political force to which anyone can vote.

The question is how Meloni will want to exploit its growth in the future. The declarations of the first hours confirm the inclusive approach, with official acknowledgments "of importance in the coalition of the role of Berlusconi", also passed and the convergence with Salvini in the request for the resignation of an unpopular government and that therefore "cannot elect the new President of the Republic". But it is clear that, if Giorgia were to grow again, she could reach a position on an equal footing with Salvini to reach the goal of a right-wing sovereign majority.

by Pietro Senaldi