Salvini’s stance on end-of-life issues was to vote against. The Stefani enigma

Rome. The end of an era or the death of Venice? In the Serenissima, they are talking about Alberto Stefani’s U-turn. The regional president – and successor to Luca Zaia – had promised the Patriarch of Venice and Matteo Salvini’s party that he would stand firm, in true Bossi style, and not give in. And thus, that he would not let any legislation pass. The law, however – which Zaia himself had been calling for for years – was eventually passed last Thursday. Consequently, in the Carroccio’s chat groups, people immediately wrote that ‘Alberto has done a U-turn’ (‘U-turn’, they wrote, rather than ‘betrayal’: a more post-Missino turn of phrase).

With the end of summer, however, the young League governor is said to have broken the promise he made to the spiritual authority of Patriarch Moraglia and to the temporal (and all too fleeting) authority of Salvini. Every promise is a debt, as we know, or at least that is the version put forward by the ruling Lega, pro-Capitano. The quasi-Catholic anathema, however, came yesterday afternoon following a phone call from Moraglia and another from Monsignor Matteo Zuppi. “The CEI did everything it could,” sources close to the secretary say, “to make Alberto aware of the deadly embrace he was pursuing against the Church, by failing to honour the promises made during the pre-election phase.” In the end, however, the promises were broken and the line taken by the more charismatic ‘ex’ prevailed.

The ‘Zaia’ bill has been passed, and it remains unclear to what extent Stefani simply went along with it – given that he is Salvini’s political and putative son – or to what extent, in the end, he actually wanted it. In any case, the ten amendments he tabled were certainly crucial in swaying the undecided. Ten small steps by the enfant prodige, but in a direction very different from that of his father. Metamorphosis or weakness? Those who have seen and heard Salvini in recent hours – before he left last night for the regional party gathering in Castegneto Carducci – described him as combative yet pensive. After all, his Lega risks coming to an end on the issue of end-of-life care. Not least because – setting aside the issue of ‘freedom of conscience’ – the agreement to vote ‘No’ alongside Fratelli d’Italia leaves a mark: the vote against came not from just any councillor… but from the Lega’s group leader, Riccardo Barbisan (alongside councillor Filippo Rigo). And thus from the head of the party, which, on the Grand Canal, now finds itself leaderless. Between Zaia – from whose legacy Stefani was supposed to break free – who is celebrating like the stars who have flocked to the Film Festival, and Salvini, who does go to the Lido, yes, but with a deckchair, to watch the sunset, like Thomas Mann’s unfortunate hero… Between the two of them, today, stands the young president. Stefani, who has become a question mark. And who, according to initial reactions, is said to have thrown Salvini’s plans into disarray.

Meanwhile, the chat groups of League supporters backing Matteo are no less vitriolic than those of pro-life committees. We’ve received a photo of an elderly woman in the square holding a placard reading: “Zaia, we were expecting autonomy, but instead you’re giving us euthanasia”. Then the analysis: “The anthropological transformation has reached its culmination”. Finally, a tweet from Simone Pillon: “Nothing good will come of this for you, Luca Zaia, nor for our political movement, nor, above all, for the most vulnerable Venetians.” Zaia, meanwhile, appears to be elsewhere already. Perhaps, as happened months ago, even closer to Marina. The daughter of Il Cav., who, on Thursday, felt Venetian and utterly serene.