La Russa: Meloni at the Quirinale would be a great boon for Italy, following Mattarella

Could Giorgia Meloni be the next President of the Republic? ‘In my view, she’ll become one – not this time, but next time. This is both my hope and a recognition of her abilities. It would be a great blessing for Italia, following on from Mattarella. For me, it would be a good thing – a very good thing – because she is a woman, she is talented, and because, starting from difficult circumstances, she has succeeded.” This was the response from the President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, in an interview with Augusto Minzolini at the ‘L’estate del Principe’ festival currently taking place in Viareggio. He reiterated: “There is no reason why this should sound like a cause for alarm.”

“I believe the majority should reflect on the constitutionality of the draft bill presented without preferential votes.” This was stated by the President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, whilst discussing electoral law. “Ms Meloni has said she wants to defend Italians’ right to choose, and that amendment is a compromise,” he noted. Preferential voting, he observed, “is like democracy: it may not be perfect, but it is the best system we have”. This provision “is a compromise designed to bring together both those who have reservations about preferential voting and those who think it is right”, and “I believe even the left won’t mind it too much”. I am convinced that ‘if they resubmit it, it is possible that this time, without a secret ballot, we will see who is truly in favour and who is truly against it’; if, however, the vote on the measure were to be halted in the Chamber of Deputies, he concludes, we must be careful, because ‘rejecting a law is not the same as rejecting an amendment’.

 ‘The violence perpetrated by the No Tav movement? I don’t believe we’re going backwards, because if we were to go backwards, the next step would be terrorism – which, however, has been defeated. Violence, on the other hand, has not, and violence thrives on cover-ups.’ According to the President of the Senate, ‘if extremist fringe groups think they are not isolated – he explained – but that they are doing things that perhaps some people would like them to do, such as putting the government in a difficult position or creating a climate of discontent, then they go ahead and do it. If, on the other hand, they lack cover, they do not do it. I would be careful to identify both the overt and the covert forms of cover-up.’