Luigi Bisignani January 15, 2023
Dear director, historic nemesis of politics, it is fair to say: the more the opposition and, paradoxically, the allies themselves, seek to undermine Meloni’s path – from excise to seaside resorts, from mes to pnrr – the more abroad, on the contrary, they are all crazy about Giorgia. For months the “aligned” press, corroborated by the chorus of intellectuals on duty, painted Meloni as Eris, the goddess of discord, who would have been excluded from the important international symposiums and isolated our country. At the moment, however, it is clear that exactly the opposite has happened: in fact, the “worst choice”, as defined by the certainly not “best” Enrico Letta, travels around 30% in the polls. The prime minister has perfectly managed to strip away muscular modalities in favor of a more cautious and less impulsively populist stance. From underdog to international revelation making big strides in European politics. In fact, Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels speaks of it with respect and appreciation. Also, in a grand move, he sent the remnants of Forza Italia into a tailspin when he met the leader of the European People’s Party, EPP, Manfred Weber, at the Palazzo Chigi after the funeral of Pope Benedict. However, Meloni does not intend to join the EPP, which Matteo Salvini should have done at the time – which we have repeatedly urged him to do in these columns – but to create an alliance between the Conservatives and the PP to make the European Socialist Party-PES out of the Picture. If he succeeds, he could at least act as a guarantor for the Eastern European countries of Poland, Romania and above all Hungary with his exuberant Orban, so that they are not handed over to Putin.
His opening as the queen of the game, in fact, to use chess jargon, an «Italian match». After all, President Cossiga always said: “There are two ways to go to Washington: either you go there directly, or you go to London and from there you go to Washington.” Giorgia chose the second. In Washington, they are preparing a visit of all kinds, and even Chinese leader Xi seems to have asked to see her again, believing that she is the only prime minister in the Old Continent with the charisma of strong leadership. The testimony of the fine words of Pope Francis – he who is notoriously allergic to visits from politicians – after their recent meeting confirms this. Meloni is very clear that he must now make good use of all available pawns on his chessboard, starting with public dates. And he does it with the utmost finesse. The most emblematic case was the renewal of the director of the Agenzia del Demanio, where Alessandra Dal Verme, EU Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni’s favorite sister-in-law, sits amid the dissatisfaction of all managers. Two days before the new appointment, a high-ranking internal board of directors was already indicated for this post, which was sensationally sidelined a few hours after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, after the respective EU Commissioner had apparently protested from Brussels with Chigi, Mef and even the Quirinale , under the banner of the more classic adage “I have a family” and perhaps also for a major operation running on state assets and centered around the powerful bank Crédit Agricole.
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But the game of games is that around the Director General of the Treasury, Alessandro Rivera, Prodromal for the departure of Dario Scannapieco from Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Palazzo Chigi and Mef are very irritated that the CEO of Cdp, apart from going beyond the grotesque in the Tim affair, says he has no funds to invest in revitalizing industrial chains, despite this would suffice Copy his French and German counterparts on parameters applied to allocate investments. To prolong his survival, the “Draghi Boy” is now trying to sponsor his friend Cristiano Cannarsa, many years at CDP and currently at Consip, as Treasury CEO. Therefore, replacing Rivera is an open game to this day. From a Christian Democrat point of view, the economy minister hoped that Rivera would spontaneously change his mind, continuing the best tradition that sees revolving doors (Draghi, Siniscalco, Grilli) in this position to the big investment banks Jp Morgan, Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley. But apparently nobody wants to shoulder the bureaucrats from Abruzzo, at least for the time being. The most accredited candidates from inside are Antonino Turicchi, now President of Ita Airways, and Stefano Scalera. But surprisingly, some prominent ministers in the current government have dusted off the CV of Fabrizio Pagani, who is considered the bipartisan «commis de l’État» and has followed most of the G7 and G20 countries as a Sherpa along with Gianpiero Massolo, long at the MEF, at home with the OECD and in Brussels, and the right profile to rebuild strained relations with Paris. A useful pawn on the Prime Minister’s European chessboard ahead of Italy’s G7 presidency. Giorgia also learns to anticipate by crowding out friends and opponents.
