From the no-confidence motion against Santanchè to the one against Salvini, oppositions pressing the government

What is opening is a politically demanding week for the centre-right. On Wednesday, 3 April, the motion of no-confidence against the Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanchè arrives in the Chamber of Deputies. Between Wednesday and Thursday, the vote on another no-confidence motion is expected: the opposition motion of no-confidence against the head of infrastructure and vice-premier Matteo Salvini. In both cases, the oppositions will attempt to push the government.

'The oppositions have presented motions of no-confidence against ministers Santanchè and Salvini. According to the regulations, they can do so,' was the comment of Fratelli d'Italia's group leader in the Chamber, Tommaso Foti of Fdi. In the Chamber they will get the answer they deserve, that is, the majority's full confidence in the two centre-right ministers'.

However, it must be remembered that the motion of no-confidence tabled by the opposition against the Tourism Minister, in the light of the Milan public prosecutor's investigation into the Visibilia case, could be postponed again, due to a logjam of measures. And in the meantime, no one in the majority is betting that twists and turns are excluded. 'No one has asked me to resign,' assured the minister, surrounded by a certain coolness in the centre-right. There are those who swear that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni herself has asked her at least to think about it, and signs of pressure are also coming from the League, even if the party has tried to stop these reconstructions with a note: 'The League is and remains a guarantor' and the affair involving the minister 'confirms for the umpteenth time the compactness of the majority and the full harmony between the leaders'.

Between Wednesday and Thursday, the opposition's motion of no-confidence in Salvini, which concerns the League's relations with the United Russia party, is expected to reach the Chamber of Deputies in Montecitorio. Unlike the previous one, the outcome of this vote does not agitate the government at all. Initially presented by Matteo Richetti of Action, the motion was signed by Conte and Schlein. The document emphasised that the Lega Nord deputy premier 'does not repudiate either his collaborative relations with Vladimir Putin's party or his statements praising Putin himself'. But Salvini replied: 'There is no agreement, I haven't set foot in Russia for I don't know how many years'. The floor now passes to the chamber.