Politics
in the Carroccio •
Signatures collected: Garavaglia to challenge Salvini at the Lega congress
The 80 signatures required to take part in the conference on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October in Milan have been reached. Among those who have signed in support of the former Minister for Tourism are the Governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, and the Senate group leader, Massimiliano Romeo.
Lega Senator Massimo Garavaglia has managed to gather the 80 signatures required to stand as a candidate for the Lega leadership ahead of the party congress to be held on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October in Milan. The former Minister for Tourism in the Draghi government has received the support, amongst others, of the Governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, and the secretary of the Lombardy branch of the Lega and leader of the Carroccio group in the Senate, Massimiliano Romeo. The deadline is set for 1.00 pm today.
At first, when Garavaglia announced his candidacy to Il Foglio as a bit of a joke, everyone in the League smiled. But, as we write here, as the days went by, the mood changed. Although Salvini himself offered his congratulations (“The more people there are at the congress, the better”), the initial reaction from Salvini’s supporters was one of derision: “Where on earth is he going?”. Now that the required number of signatures has been reached, the situation is different: Garavaglia (here is a portrait of him) will challenge Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, secretary of the Lega since 2013, for the party leadership.
