Fi, Stefania Craxi group leader in the Senate in place of Gasparri. The applause of Marina Berlusconi

There are 14 out of 20 Azzurri senators, including the ministers Elisabetta Alberti Casellati and Paolo Zangrillo, signatories of a letter in which they called for the replacement of the group leader, Maurizio Gasparri, in the name of Forza Italia unity. Gasparri's resignation came in a close second. It is the first tangible effect, in the party of Silvio Berlusconi, after the defeat in the referendum on justice reform. In her place, elected by acclamation by the assembly of senators, Stefania Craxi, currently chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. A name favoured by Berlusconi's children, Marina and Pier Silvio, who have long been calling for a 'renewal', starting with the group leaders. And sources close to the president of Fininvest report Marina Berlusconi's 'great esteem' for Stefania Craxi.

The pressing had only been suspended pending the outcome of the referendum. For Fi it was a disaster: not only for the triumph of the No vote in the regions administered by the Azzurri, starting with Renato Schifani's Sicily and Roberto Occhiuto's Calabria, but also for the number of voters (18%, according to a survey by the Opinio Rai Consortium) who would have 'betrayed', precisely on the battle considered and presented as the fulfilment of the Cavaliere's legacy.

Gasparri would be given 48 hours to manage the exit strategy. 'I have nothing to declare,' he said, when questioned by Ansa. Then the resignation. And even in the Chamber the situation is explosive: several times the group leader Paolo Barelli, father-in-law of the leader Antonio Tajani,  had been questioned. In his place, the rumours gave Marina and Pier Silvio Giorgio Mulè, coordinator of the referendum campaign, or Deborah Bergamini as favourites. But for the moment there seems to be no acceleration.

The malaise over the party leadership has been mounting since Tuesday's meeting, in which Tajani announced regional congresses by the summer and a national congress in early 2027. The suspicion is that the deputy prime minister and foreign minister wants to armour himself in the territories. This is why, at a new summit of the Forza Italia general staff on Wednesday 25 March, the critical voices came out into the open. Today the secretariat is supposed to meet.

Targeting the group leaders, a direct expression of Tajani and the Roman leadership group, is in any case a warning from Cologno Monzese to the Azzurro leader himself, who has been called upon several times in recent months to make a clean break in the party.