Financial measure, towards a rapid approval
After receiving the green light from the President of the Republic, on Monday evening the government sent the text of the draft Budget Law, the second of the Meloni government, to the Senate. Following a long negotiation between the majority forces, who continued for days to correct and draw up various drafts, the measure that will define the government’s economic policy for the coming year has in fact begun its parliamentary journey that will end by 31 December with a vote in both Chambers. Yet this will not be a Budget Law like the others. At the request of Prime Minister Meloni and Economy Minister Giorgetti, this year the majority parties will not present amendments to the text, proposals for changes. If Forza Italia and the Lega had initially shown themselves somewhat perplexed, not to say reluctant, with respect to the hypothesis in question, a meeting between the majority leaders held on Monday morning confirmed this direction. The meeting, in fact, chaired by Meloni herself, defined the line: it will be the government that will propose any amendments, taking up any requests that may arrive from the majority parties. It is an unusual and unprecedented decision in recent parliamentary history, which lies in the government’s desire to make parliamentary work as expeditious and linear as possible and to approve the Budget Law in record time, keeping political tensions, delays and complications to a minimum. On the other hand, the oppositions are rejecting the choice, especially the PD, which has launched the idea of a “work of connection and political coordination with all the oppositions” on the amendments to be presented on essential issues such as health, environment, work and family.
The Budget Law was not the only bone of contention between the opposition and the majority this week. PD secretary Elly Schlein harshly criticised the Italian government’s choice to abstain during the vote at the UN General Assembly on the resolution calling for, among other things, a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. «Call it a ceasefire or a humanitarian pause but we must stop this slaughter of civilians. The concern is enormous, we cannot watch this massacre» she criticised. An equally clear-cut reply from the president of the Council, according to whom abstention was the most balanced choice that, not by chance, was adopted by the “large majority” of European countries and G7 members. In any case, «Italy is ready to intervene to bring humanitarian aid and on this there is constant contact with our diplomacy» and with that of the key countries in the region. Some good news, however, seems to be arriving from the front where, despite the bombardments continuing unabated, between Wednesday and Thursday, around 900 civilians who were wounded or in possession of a foreign passport were evacuated from the Gaza Strip for the first time since the beginning of the war. The evacuation was carried out through the Rafah crossing thanks to the mediation of Qatar and US pressure, demonstrating how international diplomacy is finally achieving small but important goals.
If Meloni, therefore, is preparing for a budget law without too many complications – at least on paper – the unforeseen arrives from abroad, specifically from Russia, where on Wednesday the local comedy duo Vovan and Lexus released a recording of a phone call held with the premier, convinced she was talking to the president of the African Union. The two discussed various topics, including migration flows and the war in Ukraine, where Meloni mostly reiterated the country’s official positions. However, beyond the contents of the conversation, what is particularly embarrassing – and worrying – is the apparent ease with which the comedian duo managed to deceive the Italian diplomatic network, pierce the security filters and get in touch with a European premier. In this regard, Copasir chairman Lorenzo Guerini stated that it is «a priority to act so that similar circumstances are not repeated in the future, aware that they can also be considered as activities with malicious intent».
