Meloni rebuffs Vannacci: “I cannot be blackmailed. His aim is to make us lose.” And Conte: “With Renzi in the coalition, we risk losing”

“I want to ask Italians to continue governing without blackmail. I was not susceptible to blackmail before, I have not allowed myself to be blackmailed during these years in government, and I do not intend to be blackmailed in the future.” With these words, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni responds to the question of why she does not intend to form an alliance with the leader of Futuro Nazionale, Roberto Vannacci, in Bruno Vespa’s book Storia della Seconda Repubblica. From Berlusconi to Meloni, from Prodi to Schlein’, due to be published on Monday 2 November by Mondadori-Rai Libri. “I want to return to government and I want to do so with the centre-right as we know it, enriched by new civic movements that are taking shape and can strengthen our political offering,” the Prime Minister continued.

“Mr Vannacci was deputy secretary of the Lega and chose to leave the Lega and, consequently, the centre-right. So did the MPs who followed him – all of whom were elected as part of the centre-right – betraying their electoral mandate and choosing to join the opposition, now consistently voting against the government alongside Conte and Schlein, Renzi and Fratoianni. A ‘very broad coalition’, where very often even the arguments are similar,” continues the Prime Minister. “Futuro Nazionale,” Meloni adds, “has a stated aim: to ensure that the first Prime Minister ever elected by the Italian right loses at the polls. And if this government loses, the left will govern. A party founded for this purpose can call itself whatever it likes, but it is not right-wing.”

Vespa’s new book also gives space to Giuseppe Conte’s reasoning, as he, in turn, fears Renzi. “The presence of Italia Viva in the coalition is not our problem, but Italy’s. If a section of the M5S electorate were to stay away from the polls because of Renzi’s presence, we would never oust Meloni,” the M5S leader tells the journalist. He also calls, as he has done on other occasions, for Schlein to vouch for Italia Viva. “Since it was the Democratic Party that wanted Renzi to be with us, it is his secretary who must take responsibility for securing political guarantees that will safeguard us from the weakening of the alliance that Renzi may bring about, and prevent future instability.”