A stamp to avoid going bust

The most important and hotly debated political story of the week – the one-year suspension of car tax for around 14 million people – comes at a time of difficult choices for Giorgia Meloni. Choices that concern not only money to be spent or saved, but also certain paths to take. Two in particular: when to hold the election? What to do about Vannacci? These two questions are currently the most important factors to consider in trying to understand which direction the Prime Minister will take. Meloni would like to hold an election soon, as soon as possible, but she knows that holding an election before April is impossible: MPs’ pensions for their first term become payable at the start of April. She also knows that a significant section of the majority would like to use the few remaining financial levers available during the government’s remaining time in office – such as road tax – to buy time and try to reverse Vannacci’s course by introducing a few high-impact measures. Time may work in Meloni’s favour because, like Salvini and Tajani, she does not want to ally herself with Vannacci – at least for the moment – and because she knows that, should the growth trend of Futuro Nazionale reverse, it would mean the risk is worth taking: going to the polls, whenever that may be, banking on tactical voting and on the message to be conveyed to voters that a vote for Vannacci means a vote for the left. Will it work? The groundwork is in place; the decisions remain to be seen. But the separate career paths of the Prime Minister and the general are now more than just a mere suggestion.

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