“Non lasciate solo il soldato Giorgetti”. The spectre of ministers deserting their posts and empty seats in government

Standing alongside ‘soldier’ Giorgetti. Look at the government benches today during the briefing on the safeguard clause, the NEC, and the request for a budget deviation. If he is alone, it is proof that the government will try to offload defence expenditure – the SAFE programme, which it regards ‘as a loan, just like the NRRP’ – onto Giorgetti. If he is flanked, it means that the Meloni government is still united, despite the differences between the League and Forza Italia. The majority resolution is not expected to mention the word ‘SAFE’, but the symbolic aspect is what counts. Giorgetti expects – though he does not say so – that today, on the government benches during the briefing, he will not be left on his own as he is at press conferences where he is forced to face the music – the usual ones, where people compete to avoid being there, to avoid answering questions about Ilva and excise duties.

The minister has been saying for days that the additional EU funds amount to “new budgetary headroom” but do not constitute a reason to take on further debt. If the decisions on the budget deviation and the SAFE are collective decisions by Meloni, Salvini and Tajani (and they are), Giorgetti hopes that this will also be reflected in the form they take. He expects the ministers involved – such as Crosetto, Pichetto, Urso and Tajani – to be standing to his right. Renzi’s remark in April remains famous, when Giorgetti appeared alone in the Senate, accompanied only by Federico Freni. A vote was then taking place on the DFP, the public finance document, and Renzi remarked: “Giorgetti, they’ve left him all on his own, just like in the film “I Soliti Ignoti”.” Who will be the ‘knowns’ standing alongside Giorgetti today?