Meloni against political traps. Yes to a vote of confidence on the Stabilicum for the sake of ‘clarity’. No to Vannacci. The issue of sanctions against settlers

She returns to a press conference after more than four months to call for a reduction in road tax on cars and motorbikes. But above all, Giorgia Meloni is trying to avoid the pitfalls of the end of the parliamentary term by taking control of the electoral law debate. Do you remember the chaos over preferential votes in the Chamber of Deputies, La Russa’s little stunt which, by accepting the PD’s sub-amendments, risked fraying the centre-right in the Senate? The Prime Minister is tired of surprises and so shuns circumlocutions: “When the amendment on preferential votes failed to pass in the Chamber of Deputies during the last reading, I heard from many quarters that the government did not have the confidence of Parliament and the Chambers. So I believe it is a matter of clarity to call a vote of confidence on a bill that incorporates the preferential voting system”. A very clear statement of intent that sets it apart from the hesitations of her own government colleagues, with the Minister for Relations with Parliament admitting as recently as Tuesday in the Transatlantico corridor that he had “many doubts” about calling a vote of confidence. In short, Meloni views the approval of the Stabilicum – whose arrival in the Chamber will be postponed by one day (to 29 September) – as “a step forward that will benefit everyone”. She emphasised, however, that the objective is “to see out the parliamentary term”.

But during the meeting at Palazzo Chigi following the Council of Ministers, he also made other remarks. Vannacci? “I heard him say that alliances are built on honouring the commitments made to the public. We’re talking about a party made up of MPs elected from the centre-right, to vote for centre-right measures and represent the citizens who voted for the centre-right. And today they find themselves in a party that votes against that programme. If it can happen once, it can happen a second time too”, warns the Prime Minister, essentially blocking the way to an alliance with the general because “for me, winning is more important than governing”. While she criticizes the leader of Futuro Nazionale, she offers Salvini a pat on the back: what about the meeting with Russian Ambassador Paramonov and Russian companies revealed by Il Foglio? “I find it the most normal thing in the world. We have never severed diplomatic ties with Moscow.”

And to think that Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was also called upon to answer questions in the Chamber of Deputies yesterday regarding the risks linked to Russia, during the weekly Question Time. It was also an opportunity to try to clarify the government’s strategy on sanctions against settlers, after 12 countries (including the United Kingdom, France and Canada) adopted new sanctions last week against exports from illegal settlements in the West Bank. The difference lies entirely in a subtle lexical distinction: sanctions against Israeli settlers in the West Bank can wait because we have already adopted those against ‘violent settlers’, Tajani said. He added that ‘the question is to understand which tools to use to make a real impact’. We are convinced that, in order to target the activities and sources of funding of violent settlers in a precise and effective manner, the only effective legal and political framework is that of the European Union. National proposals rest on weak legal foundations.’ It is a wait-and-see stance that will plunge into an election campaign already reignited by the approval process for the anti-Semitism bill, with the text having completed its scrutiny in the Constitutional Affairs Committee (all amendments tabled by the opposition were rejected, including the switch from the IHRA definition to the more watered-down Jerusalem definition) and set to reach the Chamber on 2 October. This could be affected by fresh parliamentary tensions. Indeed, yesterday, PD MPs succeeded in having a bill tabled to introduce sanctions on products exported from Israeli settlements, similar to those adopted by France and the United Kingdom. It is by no means certain that it will ultimately be scheduled for debate. But should the situation in the Middle East return to the centre of political contention, the majority hopes that the much-maligned ‘European response’ will already be in place. In an attempt to avoid, here too, yet another trap.