Paradoxically, Salvini's acquittal from the hypothesis of kidnapping for the well-known affair of the NGO Open Arms, which was denied, weighs almost more heavily than the six-year prison sentence requested by the prosecution in the Palermo trial. for days docking in a “safe port” despite the health and need conditions faced by the 147 migrants collected at sea, in the Strait of Sicily. The two conclusions favorable to the defendants – the one for Renzi on Thursday and the one for the Northern League leader yesterday – are in reality very different.
While the first declared himself innocentprotesting (understandably, given that during the course of the affair the parents were arrested, later acquitted) at the oppressive attitude of the magistrates towards him and his family, the latter continued to vindicate his conduct, repeating here and there “I would do it again”, because according to him it was the legitimate implementation of a policy: his. And only his, it must be added, given the tenor of the testimonies, which turned against him, of the then prime minister of the yellow-green government Conte and of the then political leader of the 5 Star Movement – as well as minister of the same executive – Di Maio. They agreed on one point: Salvini always did his own thing and there was no way to convince him to change his mind.
It must be said that the Salvini of 2019 had risen to the leadership of the entire center-right thanks to the good result (17%, second only to that of the Five Star Movement) achieved in the 2018 political elections. And it had then doubled (34%) in the 2019 European elections, a percentage that he dreamed of repeating or surpassing by blowing up the government with the famous (sadly famous) crisis of Papeete and leading the country to early elections which instead did not take place. He was the only one left of the sovereignist alliance who ended up in opposition (in the meantime the Giallorossi government had been born), undermined by the party of the current Prime Minister Meloni who was already on the rise, Salvini was then forced by his followers to support Draghileaving Meloni herself the advantage of finding herself the only one fighting against the technical executive of national unity wanted by the Quirinale. And starting a decline whose consequences were seen in the September 2022 elections, with the leader of the Brothers of Italy who received more than double the votes of her allies, who were struggling at 8-9%.
A thud for the Northern League Captain. Despite this, Salvini continued his run, sterile from the point of view of consensus, so much so that in June he had to resort to the help full of ambiguity from Vannacci, but perhaps indispensable to keep himself standing, while the Northern League, especially the Northerner, began to grumble about the feared hypothesis that at a certain point the leader could join the passionate general of X Mas, and even put him in his place.
Thus, while the Captain's shares continued to decline, despite the incessant campaign against the Palermo magistrates and a continuous request for solidarity to which the electorate did not respond, the Northern League members reorganized themselves and imposed on the secretariat of the Lombard League, the “core business” of the party, the leader of the Senate Romeo, today even a possible candidate for the aftermathjust in case it proves necessary to convince/force a Salvini to resign without arguments and incapable of recognizing that they have reached the end of the line, both his League transformed into a far-right, pro-Putin, anti-European party, despite having a recognizable identity which no one can deny, is his other national League “for Salvini as prime minister”, an objective now out of reality. It won't be easy to convince the Captain to get off the deck of his ship which is now leaking everywhere.
The internal rules of the League they are constructed in such a way as to always leave him the last wordbut we know that in any political history, even that of a charismatic leader like Salvini, it has undoubtedly been, the moment, when it arrives, arrives. And the wise acquittal of the Palermo judges clearly pushes in that direction.
