The competition between Lega and Fi moves to Sardinia: Partito sardo d'Azione passes with the Azzurri

For some it is Forza Italia's 'checkmate' of the League. For some others a 'free choice of regional councillors'. What is certain is that, in Sardinia's regional legislative assembly, Forza Italia doubles up and wipes out the Sardinian Action Party by 'snatching' three councillors and further weakening the alliance between the Sardinian party and the League, represented by only one elected member.

As of yesterday, the political formation that in the last legislature put the name of governor Christian Solinas, in an organic alliance with the League, no longer has any representatives in the Regional Council. The party, founded by Emilio Lussu in 1921, disappears from Sardinia's highest legislative assembly, after having already disappeared last June from the municipal councils of Sardinia's main cities. The three elected members, Gianni Chessa, Piero Maieli and Alfonso Marras, have left the banner of Sardinianism to join Forza Italia.

The transfer was made official in Rome, with a press conference chaired by Forza Italia secretary Antonio Tajani. The Azzurri leader immediately attempted to quash the controversy surrounding the gesture, which was seen as a sort of low blow against the League. 'No spite to the League,' the secretary of the Azzurri pointed out, stressing that 'they are councillors who have joined Forza Italia. They are elected and can explain their choice to them'. As for possible criticism and disputes. "I never want to be controversial with anyone. I am building, with the Forza Italia ruling class, a political project to strengthen the centre-right and enlarge its boundaries'.

With the passage of the three regional councillors, Forza Italia becomes the second largest opposition party with six members. Preceding the Azzurri at the Sardinia Regional Council is only the Fratelli d'Italia group with seven elected members. 'It is not a random choice but the result of political reasoning,' Tajani said. 'They have decided to join the big house, reassuring for the citizens, of the moderates who, as I always say, will occupy the political space between Giorgia Meloni and Elly Schlein. It is precisely this change that also changes the balance of power in the regional sphere, even with the League having only one representative. Not only that, but it also opens up a new path with a broader horizon. The adhesion of the regional councillors is, as some of the Azzurri exponents reiterate, the first step towards a change that starts from the Sardinian regional council and will go on to affect both municipalities and other regions with other formations.

It is, however, the end of a cycle that began in 2018 with the election of Christian Solinas first to the Senate thanks to the Lega Psd'Az alliance and then in 2019 to the leadership of the Region. It was precisely the agreement with Salvini's League that had ensured the triumph of the Sardinians in 2019, when the two had exceeded 25% of the consensus. The alliance, which saw Solinas regularly at Pontida in the front line supporting Salvini, despite criticism and progressive distancing by some members, lasted until the governor's failure to stand for re-election at the February regional elections. Then the victory of the centre-left and the collapse of the centre-right. Now the final steps. And on the horizon the new course of Forza Italia.