Meloni gives the ZES to the Marche region on the eve of the vote for her loyalist Acquaroli: is this a vote-buying exercise?

Acquaroli, the outgoing president of the Marche region and a candidate to succeed himself, is in trouble. It's only natural that the right-wing coalition supporting him should come to the rescue. The government, however, is less likely to do so. Instead, it happens, complete with an official announcement from the prime minister in the electoral contested region, from Ancona. The government leaders, acting as party leaders, are at the Mole Vanvitelliana to support their candidate: Meloni and Tajani, in person, and the other, Salvini, via live link.

But it so happens that the leader of FdI is also the head of government, so the roles are blurred. " Today the cabinet will approve the law extending the Special Economic Zone to the Marche region," she announces. And she is keen to point out that the Special Economic Zone is not an honorific title, but is worth a lot of money: "Where it is already active, the Special Economic Zone has already unlocked €26.7 billion in investments and created 35,000 jobs." There is thunderous applause. After the initial announcement, the prime minister could just as well say nothing more, avoid the comparison between the North/South divide and the Tyrrhenian/Adriatic coast divide, which penalizes the Marche region and is "another gap to be healed ," and spare herself the reference to Enrico Mattei, a native of the Marche region, with a somewhat haphazard quote, just to name the illustrious figure: "Ingenuity is seeing possibilities where others don't see them." Giorgia has already said what she needed to say, and this afternoon's cabinet meeting proceeded as announced and promised. Marche and Umbria are now included in the ZES.

The opposition protests and denounces the bribe, the " shameless move ," the " electoral bribe." Meanwhile, Ricci campaigns on the beaches, doing his best to appear unconcerned about being placed under investigation. This is a card that obviously creates problems for the right. The League , in particular, is burning with desire to use it, despite countless statements against those who exploit investigations so basely. But how can this be done without being seen as hypocritical double standards? Salvini gets away with it by assuring the right that it has no intention of exploiting the investigation, and repeats this several times. Just to remind any distracted party that the investigation is ongoing.

Away from the cheering crowd, the center-right's problem remains Veneto , or more precisely, Luca Zaia. The summit that should unlock the candidacy in the white stronghold continues to postpone solely for this reason: the all-powerful Luca is not going back on his threat to run at the head of the civic list that will bear his name. The list will exist regardless, but having the governor, who is extremely popular in his region, leading it makes a huge difference. However, Meloni has not yet made a proposal to avoid this mess. The most likely option remains the Ministry of Tourism, replacing Daniela Santanchè. Santanchè, however, has no intention of stepping aside to make way for anyone. While waiting to resolve the Zaia issue—who, by the way, currently has excellent relations with the prime minister but terrible ones with his leader, Salvini —the candidacy remains vacant, and FdI is toying with the idea of fielding a civic candidate, albeit one very close to the tricolor party, such as Matteo Zoppas , third generation of the famous industrial dynasty. Almost certainly, nothing will come of it. For the League, leadership of Veneto is a matter of life and death. It will fall to Alberto Stefani, Salvini's candidate but not unwelcome to Zaia, and the FdI will immediately console itself by filling the key departments and, in a couple of years, by taking over the presidency of Lombardy.

There's no problem in Calabria, however, where outgoing governor Occhiuto resigned and simultaneously ran for re-election, partly to avoid any temptation to ambush. Who will he face? Yesterday, Avs fielded former mayor of Riace Mimmo Lucano . The 5S are instead focusing on Tridico , and at first glance, it might seem absurd to field two similar candidates in opposition. But Avs's goal is likely to avoid being left out, and a name as prominent as Lucano serves this purpose, allowing them to then negotiate with the 5S while still guaranteeing their own place in the spotlight, should they win, regardless of whether they win at the polls.

FROM

David Romoli