The Meloni’s government first moves

Serious but friendly, mediating and inclusive, but rigorous and a little too “prefectural”, the government’s political line in the week that began and ended with the first two Council meetings brought out lights and shadows. And if on the domestic front the main shadow was that of the “anti-rave” decree, on which the government stumbled, achieving the counter-effect of having united the oppositions, on the external front, the European one, Meloni recorded more satisfactory feedback. 

The debate on the approved decree will certainly be one of the first battlegrounds between majority and opposition. The government’s first measure was in fact received as an identity flag of the center-right, a measure that, as it was conceived and written, was intended to be a reminder of a certain legalitarian approach, sending out a strong message from the outset. The same message was also taken up by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility, Matteo Salvini, who dusted off his slogan “the fun is over” for the occasion. 

However, it was not only the opposition that criticized the rule, but also the coalition party Forza Italia, which, through the words of Deputy Justice Minister Francesco Paolo Sisto on the necessary revision of the text in Parliament, actually accepted the criticism from the other parties. With this last-minute demarcation, the “anti-rave” rule thus seems to have the potential to become a crack in the newly formed center-right majority, while the PD, M5S and the Terzo Polo are ready to do battle in the Senate where the measures will arrive shortly. Meloni thus seems to come up against the structural limitation of the majority she leads: solid from a numerical point of view, united in the will to govern but divided on certain issues. 

However, this does not seem to slow down the work of the Prime Minister who, with the government team complete in record time, seems to have every intention of running at full speed. This is also confirmed by her busy institutional agenda, which on Thursday included his first trip outside national borders for a confrontation with European leadership. For his international debut in Brussels, the new Prime Minister met in order the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and, finally, the President of the European Council Charles Michel. «I wanted to organize here the first official visit of the Italian government, to give the signal of an Italy that wants to participate, collaborate, defend its national interest, in the European dimension, seeking together with the other countries the best solutions to the great challenges we are facing», said the Prime Minister confidently. There were several open dossiers on the table, from measures to counter the high cost of energy to the war in Ukraine, from migratory flows to the implementation and possible changes to the NRRP. The balance drawn is quite positive: the practical sense, the interest in getting to know each other and, above all, in making themselves known prevailed over initial scepticisms and outlined a reassuring picture where Italy’s credibility on the international commitments front seems to be in line with the former Draghi government.

And, by the way, Mario Draghi? Since the passing of the bell he has disappeared from the news. But the former Prime Minister would be working in the shadows on his new goal, the NATO presidency, at least that is what many believe. After all, his commitment on the Atlanticist front has been remarkable and much appreciated on both sides of the ocean. But according to some rumors, the match would not be so easy as Draghi has a contender in Italy: Matteo Renzi. In fact, most people know of the interest that the IV leader has in the Atlanticist axis and in the international organization whose reins he would like to take one day, perhaps even to succeed the current Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. It is precisely this desire that has pushed him in recent days to try to win Meloni’s favor as much as possible, aware of the fact that only with a green light from Palazzo Chigi is it possible to compete for the job. In the meantime, more immediately, Renzi’s game will be played out in the coming weeks when the Presidencies of the bicameral Commissions that belong to the oppositions will be decided – by law or by practice, that of the Copasir, the two Authorisation Boards and the RAI Supervisory Board. After the exclusion of appointments to the parliamentary bureaus, the Terzo Polo’s goal of securing at least one of these chairmanships is essential.