In the Chamber, the center-right only gets 195 out of the 201 necessary: the difference does not pass, which however is the basis of the cut in the tax wedge scheduled for the Council of Ministers on Monday 1st May. The wrath of Giorgetti. Meloni speaks of a bad slip, not a political signal. Green light from the CDM-blitz to a new provision with unchanged balances to be submitted to Parliament | Giorgia Meloni: this is how I will take care of the Italian economy.
The budget variance does not obtain an absolute majority in the Chamber. For the go-ahead from Montecitorio, 201 votes were needed, the absolute majority of the members, but the center-right stopped at 195, with the abstention of Pd and M5s (105) and 19 no of Avs and Terzo Polo. In fact a rejection, by six votes.
It is therefore not surprising the speed with which an additional CDM was convened at 18:30 today which approved a new report to Parliament confirming the public finance balances already reported in the 2023 Economic and Financial Document and a new report which underlines the aims of support for work and families covered by the interventions scheduled for the Council of Ministers already set for 1 May.
In the meantime, at the request of the majority group leaders, the Speaker of the Chamber, Lorenzo Fontana, asked the legislative offices for further information on the possibility of returning to the Montecitorio courtroom to vote on the same provision, as this was not rejected but simply did not reach the absolute majority. A superfluous step according to the opposition because the legislation on the matter is clear.
The Reactions of The Opposition And the Majority
The main problem for which the government had to move quickly is due to the fact that the deviation is at the basis of the three billion for the cut in the tax wedge envisaged in the decree which will arrive on the table of the council of ministers on Monday 1st May and should have entered in effect since May.
So while Prime Minister Meloni is in London to meet the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, the oppositions are asking that the Fdi leader come and report to the courtroom.
The Def “will be approved, the government will keep its commitment. We are not saving ourselves, no one must do it ”, clarified the premier from the British capital, also sending a message to the markets.
“The fundamentals of the Italian economy are doing better than countries considered to have an even more solid economy than ours”, explained the prime minister, in an interview with journalists at her London hotel, answering questions from journalists who asked if the visit to London was also intended to reassure City investors about the sustainability of the Italian debt.
On the other hand, the government majority speaks of a hiccup, in particular Forza Italia, while the League is, at least so far, more cautious. What is certain is that there are 25 majority deputies who did not participate in the vote in the Chamber on the resolution on the request for deviation, despite not being on mission. In fact, 5 votes from Fdi, 9 from Fi and 11 from Lega are absent from the Montecitorio printout. Numbers that would have made a difference given that, as mentioned above, 6 more favorable votes would have been enough to make the budget variance go away.
The Precedent of The Berlusconi Government
A similar case led to the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi in 2011, when the absolute majority on the state account was not reached. At the time, however, the experience of government had already effectively ended and the majority was no longer there. Now, however, it is a matter of inexperience, of “deputies who either don’t know or don’t realize” therefore “without political reasons behind them”, explains the Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti. On the same line of thought, the prime minister from London believes that “it was superficiality, which I can’t say if it’s better or worse but it’s something that can be remedied with a comparison between us”. Also because, Meloni continues, “having spent a few years in Parliament I know that when political signals have to be given, they focus on secondary things”.
This article is originally published on milanofinanza.it
