Salvini scraps the road tax but upsets Fontana. He wants a ‘speedy’ Pontida event with subsidised buses to fill the field

He leads a party that is on its last legs and is celebrating the abolition of the ‘bollo’, a regional tax (what does Attilio Fontana make of that?). Before being swept up in the Salvini propaganda, here is the truth about the Pontida rally. A brief gathering is being organised, lasting no more than an hour. The buses? They cannot be filled (just like last year, for that matter). The journey? It is paid for by MPs. Why is Salvini promising a Pontida that reaffirms the national identity, without foreign guests? Because the ‘punkofasci’ – the foreign allies he used to drag along – have, thankfully, preferred to stay at home, and because Orbán has ended up in a castle with Count Dracula. No one feels like speaking, not even Zaia, and even Giulia Bongiorno, the last of them, is said to have suggested to Salvini that he think about the future. The only thing uniting them is Bossi, the dead man who makes them feel alive again.

What was once Salvini’s old-school rave has now been reduced to a picnic—Pontida as a packed lunch. With two days to go before the Lega gathering, the stage has not even been erected yet, and the lineup remains unknown, as it will only be decided today, after Salvini has spoken with the regional governors, who is scheduled and able to speak. To give the impression of a large turnout, MPs are being asked to spread out across the lawn, rather than gather on the stage. This is a new development. Every year, party activists are called upon to unfurl the flags of each region – the Lombardy flag, the Veneto flag, which weighs 50 kilos – but this year they’re merely serving as extras in a farce. Another farce in the making is the launch of Silvia Sardone’s candidacy for mayor of Milan, and this in itself warrants an article within the article. At the end of June, in the midst of the Lega crisis, Salvini launched the primaries for Milan to select the Lega candidate. On paper, of course, Salvini won, followed by Sardone, but no one has ever seen the counted ballot papers. However, according to those present at the polling stations, the outcome was different. Salvini had intended to field Alessandro Morelli – the ‘Tiziano Terzani of Ceuta’ – as the candidate for Milan, but Sardone, in order to prove her worth, decided to mobilise her own voters. How many votes did Salvini receive? It would be interesting to track down those ballot papers and see if there are more than 154. A conference call is scheduled for today between Salvini and the regional governors – ‘Hidalgo’ Fontana, Zaia and Fugatti – who, every time he takes the floor, asks: ‘What about a third term?’. Last time, they reached this truce and agreed on the formula: ‘Let’s write a manifesto’. Zaia is drafting it together with Fontana and Fedriga, but the truth is that none of the three has any faith in the future Salvini promises. The story of Alberto Stefani is remarkable: the Veneto governor, who looks like an altar boy, has left scorched earth in his wake in Veneto against his rivals – those not from his ‘parish’. Now that Salvini needs Zaia, he is prepared to offer him a head – just as Salome did – whilst the League commissioner, a loyal supporter of Stefani, is offering Zaia (once again) the post of deputy secretary of the League, because “all you have to do is ask”. Yet another farce.

By the way, is it true that Meloni is abolishing the motor vehicle tax? But the motor vehicle tax is a regional tax – and when the PNRR funds run out, how will the regions manage? Do Fontana and Fedriga like this measure? Are you sure they do? Why would a League supporter go along on a Sunday to watch this rerun of “Salvini anno zero”? Even Elsa Fornero—whose video is circulating in Lega chat groups alongside a poster of Salvini’s face and the invitation “If he’s there, I won’t be”—has used strong words. Fornero told Di Martedì: “Salvini is clearly a loser; there’s no point taking it out on Salvini. He has no credibility whatsoever; the things he’s been saying for ten years have been blatantly contradicted by the facts. How can he even show his face? It’s an almost pitiful situation”. Pontida begins on Saturday with the party’s young members, and the pre-festival stage has been moved to a more intimate area, amongst the regional marquees. Ministers Calderoli, Valditara and Locatelli will take to the stage with the young members, but at the same time, veteran League figures such as Giuseppe Leoni will be going to church to commemorate Bossi. On Sunday, an olive tree will also be planted, again in memory of Bossi, the founder who, in the final years of his life, wanted only Attilio Fontana and Giancarlo Giorgetti in his home, and no one else. Given that, as is well known, there is still a sense of irony within the League, some are predicting: “We risk having more buses in the car park than party members on the lawn. The buses may well set off, but are people actually willing to get on them?”

To avoid boos and protests, Salvini has made it clear that this Pontida event must be over quickly, like Sunday lunches with the in-laws. He must make it pass as quickly as ‘a nuttata’ passes in Naples. A woman who has always cared for him is suggesting that Salvini should consider stepping aside. It is Giulia Bongiorno, the lawyer, the woman who steered him through a storm – the charge of unlawful detention – and another who today would like to throw him a lifeline: an early exit. Nothing. Only Salvini has turned Max Romeo into a hero, the partisan Rommy, and applauds the abolition of road tax, which will soon have a consequence. There will be no more fuel discounts; the money is being found from unused PNRR funds. Salvini will make it to Pontida, but with a jerrycan.