Crosetto: “There is a risk of sovereign debt contagion; everything could fall apart.” The spread rises. Meloni presses the EU

The left is ‘running the show’, the right is plucking up courage: the world is in a sorry state. The spread has hit 116 points and the excise duty is as fickle as Rigoletto. Guido Crosetto takes the floor to tell us: ‘I’m worried. If the sovereign debt crisis erupts, no amount of Europe will save us. It’ll all go to pot. The subprime crisis was a mere trifle, a drop in the ocean, compared to today.” However, the piece focuses on electoral law and is scheduled for publication at 1 pm. Vannacci writes to us from Brussels to let us know that he might not even stand in the general election: “I was elected to serve in Europe. The mayor of Rome? Too difficult.” Readers are encouraged to gather their preferences (and their hopes).

Today: either the Meloni government falls, or it’s the usual idleness without rest and toil without work. At the moment, the pendulum is swinging towards the second option: the electoral law is being passed and Schlein continues to clash with Conte (who is working behind the scenes with Bonelli and Fratoianni). The idea that the primaries will go ahead is highly premature. We ask Conte, who is taking Angelo Bonelli and Nick Fratoianni out for lunch: “Mr President, will you wait for the Constitutional Court’s ruling before holding the primaries?” And Conte, with his usual premature grace: “The primaries? Let’s see if they go ahead.” Don’t take anything for granted. The Constitutional Court could overturn the part concerning the majority bonus and the appointment of the Prime Minister, but this opens up another scenario. Claudio Mancini, the ‘Acatapano’ of Rome, and Gualtieri, his ‘Fazzolori’, the adviser, explain: “The Court’s ruling is self-executing. If the Court amends it, nothing prevents the government from returning to the Chamber and amending it again, just as Renzi did.” On the left, Igor Taruffi – Taruffenko – has taken charge of the dossier. We spoke with the indefatigable ally of Elly Schlein, a figure whose wit occasionally recalls that of Karl Kraus. A journalist from Il Fatto approaches him, dreaming of going to Marseille, and Taruffenko suggests: “I’d recommend a more distant destination to Il Fatto*. France is too close. Il Fatto needs a time zone change.” So, Taruffenko, will the primaries go ahead? “Of course, in January.” Make a note of that.

Whilst we await the birth of the Melonellum here, Meloni, speaking from Split, urges Europe to show flexibility: “We’re not asking for reckless spending, but inflation must be taken into account”. Thanks to the variable excise duty mechanism, there are 160 million euros in the coffers that could be used for a new decree on excise duties, except that at the moment it is Eni that is opening the purse strings. Giorgetti advises: “Let’s keep those savings for even darker times.” We reiterate that these are times of waning moon. Few League members are on the move (incidentally, the rules for the League Congress are due to be finalised at Monday’s Federal Council meeting). Giovanni Donzelli warns: “It is in moments when you let your guard down, when the air is calm, that you risk falling.” To the usual question about the Constitutional Court cutting, amputating and amending, Donzelli, the imp, replies: “This story that the Court might reject it is being hyped up in the left-wing newspapers. We have nothing against either the Court or the Quirinale. I hear the M5S even accusing us of the Portella della Ginestra massacre. Fortunately, I wasn’t even born then. Perhaps Ignazio (La Russa) had been born, but only a few months earlier.” They’re searching for the left just as Diogenes searched for the man with the lantern. Among the many names being bandied about as a unifying figure, it is Gentiloni’s turn (“Have you seen the short article in *Il Riformista*? It’s apparently a new idea from Bettini,” is the tip-off coming from the PD). No one is paying any attention to the third vote of confidence on the bill (228 in favour), and few are paying attention to the painful, measured words of Crosetto, who now acts as the nation’s conscience. He recalls: “Meloni, Giorgetti and I lived through 2011. I was there. I’m worried. Sometimes we’re a provincial country. The sovereign debt crisis could trigger a financial contagion. It’s another form of war, but it’s still war and no one will be spared. Even China has a huge hidden debt, not to mention the United States, which carries on printing money. We must stop the big speculators. We need a ‘financial UN’.” At present, the only request being blocked by the EU is Italy’s, because “the Stability Pact already provides for the impact of higher inflation to be taken into account”. Fortunately, Meloni has found Eni, her Lourdes. Note a sentence in Claudio Durigon’s latest interview that hints at who will be asked to show further flexibility. Here is the headline: ‘Electricity and gas costs. Suppliers should impose a cap, as with fuel.’ In FdI, they interpreted it as: ‘Was Claudio perhaps referring to Enel?’ In recent months the talk has been of executives and chiefs of staff leaving. At least one will not be able to leave. It is Lollobrigida’s chief of staff. Minister, is it true that your executives are leaving for even more prestigious roles at CDP Venture Capital? And Lollobrigida: “And what could be more prestigious than working for me?”