ALERT: Meloni cuts heads after her electoral defeat but runs into a minister who refuses to resign | International
In breaking news, the following story has emerged from the international scene.
The defeat of Giorgia Meloni in the referendum for a constitutional reform of the judiciary has shaken, for the first time, a Government that until now boasted of being one of the most stable in recent Italian history. Suddenly, and with some surprise, the harmony with the electorate that gave her an absolute majority in 2022 has been broken, due to a hidden malaise that did not appear on the radar.
Meloni suddenly felt fragile and was forced to react, and, according to what is reported in the Italian media, with monumental anger. As a first response, she has finally faced old dirty laundry that, out of overconfidence, until now she thought did not affect her. But they precisely have to do with the underlying issue of the referendum: politicians with judicial problems who refuse to assume responsibilities. Those who have rejected the reform feared an attempt by the Government to control judges and prosecutors, in a context of Meloni’s constant attacks on the judiciary when it issues sentences that stop Executive decisions, such as in the deportations of migrants to Albania.
Tuesday afternoon was high tension in Palazzo Chigi, seat of the Italian Government. Meloni demanded the resignation of two senior Justice officials and the Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè, the three involved in cases that are in court. But a new crisis has opened that only makes things worse.
Andrea Delmastro, Undersecretary of Justice, and Giusi Bartolozzi, Chief of Staff of the same ministry, presented their resignation. The first opened a restaurant with a mobster in Rome; the second is involved in the secret release in 2025 of the Libyan soldier Osama Almasri, wanted for crimes against humanity. But Santanchè, a businesswoman nicknamed La Pitonessa since the time of Berlusconi, a character of the Porto Cervo jet set and hardened in palace battles, refuses to leave. What’s more, she has publicly disputed Meloni’s authority. She has two open cases, one for accounting falsehood and another for social security fraud.
Santanchè responded to the pressure on Tuesday with a brief note from her ministry, at 7:55 p.m.: “Tomorrow Minister Santanchè will be normally in her office: all commitments are confirmed.” You can imagine how the Government felt if you consider that it reacted nine minutes later, at 8:04 p.m., with an equally brief statement in which Meloni welcomed the resignations in the Ministry of Justice and concluded: “The Prime Minister hopes that, along the same lines of institutional sensitivity, the Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè, will share a similar decision.” In short, an ordeal with which Meloni made public a fight that she could not win in private.
Mobilization against Meloni for the justice referendum, on March 23. Matteo Minnella (REUTERS). This is an unprecedented situation, a precedent is remembered in 1995 with a Minister of Justice, humiliating for the Italian leader. Also because it already introduces the crisis into the terrain of the farce, and an air of tragicomedy appears that puts the finishing touch to the solemnity that Meloni exuded until now, to the point of seeming invincible.
“I’m staying, the Constitution is on my side,” Santanchè has even said, citing the Magna Carta that was at the center of the referendum. In Italy, it is the President of the Republic who appoints and dismisses ministers, at the proposal of the Chief Executive. But for Meloni to be forced to go to Sergio Mattarella to ask for help because they ignore her would be a blow to her credibility.
The alternative is already underway, although it is not pleasant for the president either: the opposition has already presented this Wednesday a motion of confidence in Parliament against the Minister of Tourism, which the majority of the Government itself would be forced to support. This is what ended up happening in the only precedent that is remembered, in 1995, with Filippo Mancuso, Minister of Justice in the Government of Lamberto Dini. It is another rarity that the parliamentary majority supports such a motion against one of its members: it only happened on that occasion, and the other 79 times they were rejected. That vote is binding, and the minister should leave. The session is expected for next week, if it does not give way before.
Santanchè has argued that her case is milder than Delmastro’s. “I am not the one who lost the referendum and I don’t see why I should leave right now,” she explained. She is right that this is not new. The truth is that the opposition has been asking for her resignation for more than two years and has already presented her with three motions of confidence, all rejected by the right-wing majority.
Delmastro’s case may have had an impact on the referendum, since it arose a week before, but Meloni kept him in his position because it was almost worse to dismiss him on the eve of the vote. However, his case came from afar, because he already had a conviction in the first instance for revealing official secrets. Even so, the prime minister then closed ranks, although when she was in the opposition she was one of the most incendiary when it came to calling for resignations.
Furthermore, in her party, which barely had a ruling class, there is a strong sense of clan. As for Bartolozzi, in addition to being under accusation in the Almasri case, he came out on March 9 with a statement against the judiciary that even on the right seemed exaggerated. It is one of the best examples of how the debate degenerated, something that has ended up turning against the Government. The Justice Chief of Staff said, almost shouting: “If the yes vote wins, we will free ourselves from the magistrates. They are an execution squad.”
Editor’s Insight:
This report highlights significant developments in the international landscape that could reshape diplomatic relations in the coming weeks.
This is part of a broader trend that has been reshaping the geopolitical landscape in recent months.
We encourage our readers to follow this developing story for the latest information.
Source: This article was originally published in another language by Internacional en EL PAÍS and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.