All the personnel Vannacci is seeking in Lombardy. Even in the public sector

General Vannacci faces quite a conundrum in the recruitment campaign he has launched amongst public-sector companies in the Lombard capital. Indeed, how to frame the concept of ‘remigration’ at ATM – where some thirty Tunisian tram drivers are taking up their posts, having been provided with accommodation, and hired by the company due to the collapse in the number of Italian workers applying for the role – remains to be seen. The alternative proposed by the champions of ‘remigration’ is to leave the people of Milan to walk, under the sun. Under the Madonnina, the Generalissimo is particularly active, partly due to the presence of a hard-line post-fascist base, and partly to keep the centre-right—which views him with suspicion—on a tight leash. But whilst the Fasci di Combattimento were founded in 1919 in Piazza San Sepolcro itself, Futuro Nazionale has chosen, much more prosaically, the city’s nightlife scene – the AperiVannacci or “patriotic aperitifs” – to recruit new followers.

The Generalissimo has also revealed in recent days that Futuro Nazionale will field its own candidate in the Milan local elections. Whilst Vannacci has recruited Luca Ferrazzi and Pietro Macconi for the regional elections, there is already a scramble among far-right figures eyeing Palazzo Marino with interest. Leading the pack is Roberto Jonghi Lavarini, a figure from Milan’s far right, known as ‘the Black Baron’, who was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by the Court of Milan years ago for glorifying fascism. In a television interview, he stated that fascism “was a splendid era of social reform and Italian greatness”, that he celebrated the March on Rome, and that “a drop of castor oil aids digestion”, as well as using anti-Semitic expressions. Criminal lawyer Renato Maturo, chairman of the ‘Right for Milan – National Future’ committee, a former leader of Alleanza Nazionale and former associate of Ignazio La Russa, is the political driving force behind Vannacci’s party. Then there is Pier Gianni Prosperini, a doctor with multiple degrees and a long political career behind him: until 1990 he was in the MSI-DN, then in the Lega, which he left a couple of years later to become a councillor for the City of Milan in the council that ousted Manipulite. In 1995, he was elected regional councillor for Lombardy and, since 2005, has served as the region’s councillor for sport. He describes himself as: “A bulwark of Christianity, the scourge of social centres and the leader of the North”. In 2015, he was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and barred from holding public office for three years for arms trafficking to Eritrea.

Vannacci is now seeking to recruit supporters amongst workers at companies owned by the City Council and the Regional Government, which have always been a reliable electoral base, including for local elections. The key figure in this recruitment drive is Max Bastoni, a long-standing member of the Lega, who previously served at local council level and then in the Regional Government. The plan involves setting up works councils comprising around ten members. The aim is to recruit workers at ATM and AMSA, where – according to representatives of Vannacci’s party – some activists are already at work. They remain unseen for the moment. But the most interesting target appears to be the FNM group, where clashes between the League and FdI are a daily occurrence and attacks on train crew are the order of the day. The FNM group (7,000 workers) includes, amongst other companies, Trenord and Ferrovienord. And it is here that, partly due to ongoing disagreements between staff and senior management, there is reportedly the level of discontent needed for Futuro Nazionale to win over new supporters. The independent trade unions, which capitalise on every protest, represent a natural ally for Vannacci’s party; indeed, contacts with the STAS (Transport Drivers’ Union) are intense and fruitful, whilst the confederal trade unions, starting with the CGIL, raised the banner of the Constitution at the first sign of trouble.