Vannacci has his sights set on a seat in Calabria: “We’re giving it serious consideration”

Armed with flippers, a (water) gun and goggles: he roams the beaches handing out futuristic gadgets, hoping for ‘sweeps’, and now Roberto Vannacci has set his sights on Calabria. “Futuro Nazionale is considering playing an active role in the upcoming election,” the general tells Il Foglio. He is referring to the by-elections on 27–28 September, necessitated by the election of the now former Forza Italia MP Francesco Cannizzaro as mayor of Reggio Calabria. To replace him, the centre-right – Forza Italia – has selected lawyer Fabio Roscioli: the treasurer of Antonio Tajani’s party, a figure close to Marina Berlusconi and the Cavaliere’s family. In 2022, the result in the single-member constituency of Calabria 5 (which includes the Reggio area) was clear-cut: Cannizzaro secured over 65,000 votes, or 47.6 per cent, with the PD and M5S standing separately at the time (both around 20 per cent). But in the meantime, the landscape has changed: Vannacci has since moved to the Lega, gone it alone, and now never misses an opportunity to press the government, raising the stakes. He has announced his mayoral candidate for Milan, Carmelo Burgio, another general (“But we are open to dialogue with the centre-right”). And he has his sights set on the by-elections, a golden opportunity: “We’re giving it serious thought and in a few days’ time we’ll be in Calabria for a sort of fact-finding mission,” the MEP adds. But might Vannacci actually stand as a candidate in the end? “This is something we’ll decide shortly, as we finalise the strategy to adopt.” In short, the FN leader isn’t ruling it out – perhaps out of calculation rather than genuine conviction – whilst at the same time keeping all options open. Even on the prospect of running alone, in fact, he says “we’re considering it”. Ambiguity is his hallmark. Perhaps waiting, if not exactly for a call from Giorgia Meloni, then at least for a signal from the centre-right (according to Il Fatto, there have apparently been some contacts).

Calabria, therefore, will provide some clues as to the future of the ruling coalition, in a sort of initial political and electoral test of the ‘Vannacci effect’ ahead of the general election. Because – setting aside the specific nature of this contest – if the National Front were indeed to put itself to the test with its own candidate, we would gain a better understanding of the influence of Vannacci’s supporters (who continue to rise in the polls) and what the ruling coalition might risk when competition comes from the far right as well. Withdrawing from the race, on the other hand, would have a very different flavour. Against this backdrop, the progressives are sitting on the fence; they will have to decide whether to back the journalist Carmelo Fotia or find another solution. And they will do so, in fact, partly based on Vannacci, who will in any case be arriving in Reggio on the 13th, accompanied by his MPs Edoardo Ziello and Domenico Furgiuele (regional leader), to send a message. The former Lega MEP made another such gesture yesterday, at another event in Lido di Camaiore during which summer-themed and identity-related goodies were also handed out, including a water pistol. There have also been new appointments within the party; for example, former Lega senator Umberto Fusco was appointed national head of Thermalism yesterday. However, the main talking point was the statements – the outbursts – of the ‘reverse general’, who, in an attempt to fuel the rift with Renzi, went so far as to say on social media that ‘we will round up Italy’, prompting a reaction from the Prime Minister himself: ‘“Rastrellare” was the verb used by the Nazi-Fascists’. But there was also a reaction from the Democrat Emanuele Fiano, a long-standing member of Milan’s Jewish community: “It’s disgusting.”