Meloni’s piggy bank. She is gearing up for the elections with cash handouts, income tax cuts and a dash of imagination. The investigating judge becomes Maranza

Maranza sneaks into the budget manoeuvre; the Milan investigating magistrate rules against the IRPEF. A 26-billion budget bill, approved by the Council of Ministers with sacrifice – and even a touch of imagination – risks being remembered for a video and for number plates. The video was released by Meloni, who described Youssef Siher’s release from prison as “shameful”. The number plate is the one that, from tomorrow, will be available for personalisation (for 600 euros) in any way, even like this: “You’re all wankers 27809. Roccapalumba. Take that”. It is the “let’s all get along” manoeuvre. Tajani is appeased with the personal income tax (IRPEF) reforms, then Salvini; Lupi, together with Giorgetti, is reviving the postal savings book, a hundred-euro bonus per child – a Gozzano-style piggy bank. It is that small detail of good taste that drives Meloni wild, so much so that she said in the Council of Ministers: “Now that is a measure I like.” The figures are being finalised, and in the Chamber of Deputies, the dates for the centre-left primaries are also being set. What if they were held on 14 March? Graziano Delrio says: “That is a good date.” Peppe Provenzano: “It is my father’s birthday.” Franceschini asks, “What if Meloni holds her vote earlier? In March?” The flat-rate tax is slashed drastically, from 10 to 5 per cent if the property is rented to young people. Salvini arrives at the press conference and cannot find a chair: “They’ve taken my chair away.” He is now dubbed the “chairless one”. 

It is a budget necessary for the times, and if one wishes to avoid the term ‘meagre’, one might use ‘austere’ instead. Giorgetti, ‘Gianca’ as Meloni calls him (‘stay here, Gianca, don’t run off’), says that this is ‘a serious budget’. Twelve billion euros come from the safeguard clause; nine billion is required to confirm previous measures; a further 5.5 billion is contributed by the banks, excluding cooperatives and cooperative banks; one billion comes from cuts to ministries; finally, 700 million is contributed by the energy sector, and another 700 million by the gambling sector. The most immediate measures—the ones that are easy to remember—are the personal income tax (IRPEF), whose threshold is raised to 55,000 euros and, as Meloni explains, is worth 500 euros a year; and the launch of a pension fund (called the ‘Fondo Valore’) for children, with 100 euros contributed by the state. Two more: funding for air-conditioning in schools and the motor vehicle tax, which becomes a permanent measure. The measures are valid for one year, but Meloni has pledged to extend them if her government is reelected. The package also includes a flat tax up to 100,000 euros for the self-employed, a measure championed by Matteo Salvini, and 50 million euros annually for military pensions secured by Minister Zangrillo.

There are so many documents and tables that Meloni asks the Council of Ministers, “Help me understand what I’m supposed to say.” Salvini comes in and out of the room, whilst Tajani – and this is the new development – for once breaks free from the Berlusconis’ influence. Maurizio Lupi confesses: “It’s true, even Antonio agreed to increase the banks’ contribution. He would have done anything to secure the personal income tax.” And what if the banks were to appeal? Meloni, who is furious about the Milan investigating judge’s decision, replies: “I hope they don’t.” Something has happened regarding the energy bills decree – Pichetto’s decree. There appear to have been misunderstandings with the largest energy company, and this becomes clear when Giorgetti speaks of ‘concession renewals’. Meloni promises that the energy bills decree is scheduled for the next Council of Ministers meeting. The only variable she had not anticipated was Maranza’s release from prison, which turned her day on its head – or perhaps, as the rumour mill suggests, resolved the matter for her. It’s true, the IRPEF. It’s true, the 100 euros for children, Giorgetti’s measure. It’s true. But what will the newspapers lead with today? They’ll lead with Maranza’s inclusion in the budget, and the phrase ‘Shameful Decision’. There will be yet another clash between Meloni and the magistrates.

There is just one question everyone wants to ask Meloni: why is she challenging the judge’s decision to separate the public prosecutor and the investigating magistrate? It is put to her at the end of the press conference, with a touch of cunning, by Giuseppe Colombo, who mixes up IRAP and the law. Meloni can be seen visibly tense, clearly struggling to contain her response. She eventually replies, "My words are not an attack on judges but a defence of all public servants." She expresses no regret, merely acknowledging that she used the wrong verb tense. The Siher chat was created after the devastation, and Meloni acknowledges: "I said that they had led to the devastation. I got the verb tense wrong. I should have said ‘that had led to the devastation’.” Listen to what Franco Gabrielli tells Il Foglio: “I defer to the judge’s decision, with full respect for the different roles: the prosecution brings the charges, the judge assesses their merits. It is an essential distinction, fully in line with the desired separation of careers.”

It effectively asks the right: were not you the ones advocating for the referendum? This could well be Meloni’s final manoeuvre. Cateno De Luca, who—along with Laura Castelli—has gatecrashed the centre-right (remember Castelli? She was the former deputy minister from the M5S who silenced Padoan: ‘That’s what you say…’), is engaging in spiritualism (or perhaps merely being witty). De Luca states: “The vote will take place on 9 and 10 May. Meloni will resign in February after the ‘yes’ vote on the Milleproroghe decree.” It really does feel like the final Budget Bill. The left is waiting at the traffic lights for the Constitutional Court’s ruling, whilst Meloni is already behind the wheel, heading for the sea – the polling booth. Every interlude in his press conference is a ‘reminder to vote’: ‘If someone hadn’t spent the money on wheeled desks…’, ‘we’ve discovered that the left likes road tax…’. Like it or not, is the left ready? Look at the photo of the budget. It already resembles an election poster. Pier Ferdinando Casini walks through the Chamber of Deputies and, jokingly—though not entirely—says: “I declared that I was retiring, that I wouldn’t stand for election, but after taking this tour of the Chamber and seeing who’s about, I’m tempted to have a second thought. I said I wouldn’t stand for the Senate, but I never said I wouldn’t stand for the Chamber of Deputies.”