Lega: Garavaglia secures the signatures needed to stand as a candidate; he will challenge Salvini in a secret ballot
Among those who have signed in support are Attilio Fontana, Governor of Lombardy, and Massimiliano Romeo, leader of the parliamentary group in the Senate
Key points
Massimo Garavaglia is officially a candidate at the Lega’s extraordinary congress. The Carroccio senator has achieved his goal, having collected and submitted this morning the 80 signatures required to stand as a candidate, including that of the Governor of Lombardy Attilio Fontana and regional councillors Massimo Sertori and Claudia Terzi, as well as that of the Senate group leader Massimiliano Romeo. The signatures in support of his candidacy came largely from Lombardy – over fifty – followed by around ten from Veneto, and others from Piedmont and Trentino.
The deadline for submitting candidacies (as well as motions and proposals to amend the constitution) for the League’s extraordinary congress, scheduled for 24 and 25 October in Milan, was at 1.00 pm. For the former Minister for Tourism in the Draghi government and current chair of the Finance and Treasury Committee at the Senate – who is very close to Giancarlo Giorgetti – gathering the signatures was no easy task. He only managed to meet the target at the very last minute. Amid rumours of pressure from Salvini’s ‘Praetorian Guard’ to ensure delegates did not sign in support of the challenger – or withdrew any support they had already given – and the fear among more than a few that publicly taking a stand might jeopardise their own re-election bid.
Toccalini: 70 per cent of signatures in Lombardy for Salvini; the campaign continues
“In Lombardy, we collected 120 signatures out of a possible 170 for Matteo Salvini, so Lombardy ends up with 70 per cent of the party’s grassroots membership choosing to continue on the path alongside Matteo Salvini,” announced Lega MP Luca Toccalini, secretary of the Lega Youth Wing, in the Chamber of Deputies. “Contrary to what has been reported in the press in recent weeks,” he added, “the figures are very clear. There are some very significant and exceptional cases, such as Bergamo, where 12 out of 20 delegates signed in support of Matteo Salvini; so this, too, somewhat undermines the narrative of the last few days.”
Garavaglia’s candidacy
Garavaglia, from Lombardy, who has decided to stand in order to bring to light the internal tensions that have been rocking the party for months, is preparing to challenge Salvini’s national-sovereignist line in the name of a ‘Bossian’-style federalism and a stronger stance on liberal economic policies (‘‘At times we have veered towards statism,’ he stated in an interview with *La Repubblica*, ‘which our electorate – made up of workers and small and medium-sized enterprises – has not always appreciated’). This stance is shared by the Governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, and the Senate group leader, Massimiliano Romeo (who lead the ‘northern faction’ within the League), but also by two other heavyweights: the former Doge Luca Zaia and the governor of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Massimiliano Fedriga, who, however, have not endorsed any candidates and have not yet taken sides.
Although, in the run-up to the party conference, both have contributed – with the group leader in the Chamber of Deputies Riccardo Molinari (aligned with Salvini) – to the drafting of a Northern-led motion focusing on autonomy and federalism, as well as reviving the proposal to extend the single Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to the northern regions, to remove limits on consecutive terms for all local elected offices, and to establish SEZs in the industrial areas of the North. A motion ultimately signed by all the Northern League governors in the North. Not only the ‘Salvinian’ Alberto Stefani (Veneto) but also the ‘dissidents’ Attilio Fontana (Lombardy) and Maurizio Fugatti (Autonomous Province of Trento). And by the regional secretaries of the North, including Massimiliano Romeo (Lombardy)
