Salvini wants to save twenty of his loyalists, sparking a race to see who is the most loyal. Fontana prepares a new offensive

He is the deluge, yet he still believes himself to be the hope. Salvini’s plan is to save his own kind, select twenty MPs, and build an ark to survive the flood. If Attilio Fontana is acting like a hidalgo – and he will do so again, immediately after Ferragosto, with a massive protest – it is because he has realised that Salvini is aiming for a select few. We are currently witnessing scenes straight out of the end of the world, with posts from those seeking salvation, final acts of loyalty. Among the Lega’s grassroots – a passionate party – this meme is doing the rounds: ‘Vote for the longest bootlicking’. These are the pro-Salvini comments from Andrea Paganella, Luca Toccalini, Eugenio Zoffili and Andrea Crippa. They are the die-hard Salvini supporters, the guardians of the party’s dissolution. Here is the list for the ‘Leghetta’, ‘Noi e Salvini’.

Salvini’s attempt at reconciliation won’t succeed this time. He believes, as always, that Attilio Fontana, Fedriga, Zaia and Fugatti will ultimately let him have his way and lend their support, but this time the electoral lists need to be drawn up and everyone knows he wants the final cull. Bagnai has referred him to the Competition Authority – one less to deal with. Federico Freni, the only person in Parliament capable, according to Tommaso Foti, ‘of following a Budget Bill’, would have a queue of law firms (and even publishing houses) lining up for him, if only he were to return to his old profession. Salvini will speak on 14 August at La Versiliana, and immediately afterwards a united response from the regional governors is being prepared. At this very moment, Salvini’s supporters who want to board the ark are writing that the leader “is not up for debate” and “that one does not argue in the newspapers”. The guardians of the dissolution are Luca Toccalini, the secretary of the Lega Youth Wing (aged thirty-six; but is one still young at thirty-six?), because “activists acting in good faith are not interested in squabbles and controversies”. It is a handful of Lombards, because Lombardy is the region where the seats will be up for grabs. Those who have boarded the ark are: Fabrizio Cecchetti, Paolo Formentini, Eugenio Zoffili and Andrea Crippa.

During last Friday’s Lombardy executive committee meeting – the one where the provincial secretaries told Salvini: “Your time is up”, “step aside” – Minister Locatelli was the most combative. Another one on board. The other League members Salvini wants to keep on board are treasurer Di Rubba, Silvia Sardone, Igor Iezzi, Andrea Dara, Stefano Candiani, Minister Valditara, Stefano Borghesi – and there’s no need to mention Claudio Borghi, the sole ‘dadà’, and Susanna Ceccardi. In Veneto, the commissioner of the Liga Veneta, Andrea Tomaello, remains, and there will of course be Lorenzo Fontana, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, who for years was in charge of the party’s foreign policy. The purity of Alberto Stefani, the governor of Veneto, is rather amusing. The purists write posts of loyalty, whilst Stefani is more subtle. He is a die-hard Salvini supporter, but he ‘likes’ posts by Crippa and Toccalini: he has invented the St Ignatius of Loyola-style post. In Salvini’s inner circle are, of course, Calderoli and Giorgetti, who hold positions on a par with Bellerio. What is different about this crisis compared to Salvini’s previous one – a long, drawn-out power struggle that has been going on for years? This time, neither Zaia nor Fedriga nor Fontana nor Fugatti are keen to put their names on the lists of the ‘Leghetta’ and ‘Noi e Salvini’ parties.

The other loyalists in the south who could be elected to the Leghetta, because they have their own personal support base, are Claudio Durigon and Roberto Marti. These posts saying ‘we’ll be with you’ right to the end serve as a barometer of those urging Salvini to take action, those who remember Salvini’s time in office over the years. One post that challenges the grassroots is that by Davide Vecchi, the former editor of Il Tempo, now in charge of the Lega’s communications – much more than just a communications officer, he is someone who knew Salvini as a journalist, who reported on him even whilst facing his lawsuits, and who would very much like to speak out and write on social media “ The most extreme demand from Lega supporters will be for a triumvirate, with Giorgetti as guarantor, to remove Salvini’s name from the electoral lists. The split within the Lega, which Salvini has rejected, is now being brought about by circumstances. On one side are the proponents of a solution; on the other, the guardians of dissolution.