"MANDATORY". Under the electoral law, Meloni requires her ministers to attend and imposes primaries on the left

“MANDATORY”, all capital letters. Having read the text message on their mobiles, the ministers must have let out a gasp. Like a cork popping from a bottle. “Report to the Chamber of Deputies”. Signed: Palazzo Chigi. This was followed by a vaguely threatening note: “Absent ministers will have to justify their absence directly to the Prime Minister”. And so yesterday morning at Montecitorio, for the first secret ballot on the electoral law, we witnessed the rare spectacle of the government in full force. Giancarlo Giorgetti, Minister for the Economy, arrived out of breath (who’s chasing him? “It’s not the spread, I swear”). Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister for Agriculture, said that “you don’t need to send me any messages. I’m a soldier… me.” All called up. All present. Giorgia Meloni feared – and still fears – ‘slacking off’, a term of unquestionable zootechnical nobility which, at Palazzo Chigi, accurately describes the state of mind of a majority at the end of a parliamentary term. But the vote passed, and the opposition now realises it will have to go through the painful process of holding primaries.

The result – 229 ‘no’ votes against 151 ‘yes’ votes – more than makes up for the anxiety with interest. On paper, the majority had 222 votes, as Giovanni Donzelli, organisational head of Fratelli d’Italia, points out with accounting precision, having spent the morning monitoring his colleagues’ hand movements whilst they voted. Seven additional votes emerged from the unknown and extremely crowded realm of the secret ballot. Vannacci supporters? “No, it must have been the usual Calenda,” Angelo Bonelli quips. On Monday, the confidence votes resume; the final vote is expected on Thursday. A good start for Giorgia Meloni, even if the day was marred by two missteps.

This morning, Deputy Minister for the Economy Maurizio Leo, speaking before the Confartigianato executive committee, warned that taking measures too lightly risks a collapse: “Remember what happened in Greece”. In the afternoon, in a statement, he realised that we are “light years” away from Greece. The swiftest default and the swiftest recovery in European history, all wrapped up between aperitif and coffee. Meanwhile, in Brussels, Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho responded to Meloni’s request for flexibility with the politeness of a counter clerk: “We have already granted greater flexibility to Member States”. Europe thus almost agreed with Leo’s morning stance, and Meloni was reminded of the slump. Palazzo Chigi knows of only one remedy for this ailment: supervised presence (“I can’t always be the only one doing the hard work”). That is why all MPs were summoned yesterday – many of whom already have their minds on their constituencies – to count votes they have not yet received. And that is why, in recent days, the Prime Minister has paired sternness with a gentle touch, reassuring many, including Carlo Nordio, that they will all be “re-nominated, of course”, if they so wish.

And what of the left? In the Chamber of Deputies yesterday, it was merely observing. In the technical sense of the word, like the OSCE observers sent to distant countries to monitor other nations’ elections. Enzo Amendola, a PD MP and former Minister for European Affairs, sums up the mission with the detachment of a diplomat on secondment: “Let’s see what they do”. Except that whilst the OSCE observers eventually leave, these PD members stay put. The law they are watching being passed also determines how they will have to choose their candidate for Prime Minister, because if the centre-left succeeds on Thursday, it will have to nominate one – and therefore hold primaries. So, whilst the right-wing votes, the left-wing settles down on the sofas in the Transatlantico and discusses how to organise these blessed primaries: with one round or two, with how many candidates, online via SPID or only at polling stations.

It discusses Giuseppe Conte’s proposal, as he repeatedly tells reporters that he has declared himself open to a third candidate – neither himself nor Elly Schlein – an offer met at the Nazareno with the sort of expression one might reserve for a snail found in a salad. To convey the extent of the commotion, yesterday Igor Taruffi, head of organisation for the PD and the secretary’s shadow, was flitting about like a thrush over the ‘hedges’ of sofas in the Transatlantico, completing a full tour of the PD’s various factions in just a few hours. He stopped by to see Lorenzo Guerini, leader of the reformists. Then he visited Andrea Orlando, a former minister, who responded with sweeping gestures. Next, he went to Matteo Orfini, the party’s former president. Finally, he went to report back. Schlein receives visitors in the smokers’ lounge, from which she only rises to go and vote. The PD Executive Committee has been convened for today. In short, Meloni has made attendance compulsory for her ministers with a message in capital letters, and through the electoral law she is imposing primaries on her opponents. For the former, a WhatsApp message was sufficient; for the latter, publication in the Official Gazette will be required, but the tone remains the same: MANDATORY.