Milan, Sept. 27 (LaPresse) – “Matteo Salvini can hold the League’s extraordinary congress by himself. It’s a trap. I’m not falling for it. Because he’s not opening it up to party members, is he? No: he intends to organize it with exactly the same delegates who elected him secretary a year and a half ago. Nothing more than a tactical ploy, I take note of it. And I won’t take part.” This was said by Massimiliano Romeo, League group leader in the Senate and secretary of the Lombard League, to Corriere della Sera. “Attilio Fontana and I, and everyone else, are moving solely and exclusively for the good of League politics and, believe it or not, even for Salvini himself,” Romeo added. “No one has ever asked” Salvini “to step aside. It’s not a personal challenge. The issue is purely political. The party is in free fall. The trend is alarming. We are losing 0.2% a month. This means that, if there were to be a vote in May, we risk reaching it at around, if not below, 4%. We took Vannacci on board in the first place to recover some votes, although he often made statements that were difficult to share; then he left and took his votes with him. We are in difficulty, and we must not hide it from ourselves. In Varese, Bergamo, Brescia, Monza and Brianza, Valtellina, but also in Liguria and Piedmont, there is strong and widespread discontent…” “We,” Romeo continued, “are saying: Salvini can remain secretary, but let’s set up a sort of ‘election committee’, a team with real powers,” “to urgently put the party’s political line back on track. We must no longer chase Vannacci on his turf; it makes no sense to play a game of who can make the most outrageous statement. On important issues such as security and immigration, we must provide serious and concrete answers as a governing force, without filling them with the same crude populism of a general trying to win as many votes as possible on the right. Because, excuse me: Meloni is already on the right, isn’t she? Then Vannacci has gone even further. And us? Well, we need to become the League again, by reclaiming our identity.”
Lega, Romeo: “Extraordinary congress is a trap, I’m not falling for it”
Milan, Sept. 27 (LaPresse) – “Matteo Salvini can hold the League’s extraordinary congress by himself. It’s a trap. I’m not falling for it. Because he’s not opening it up to party members, is he? No: he intends to organize it with exactly the same delegates who elected him secretary a year and a half ago. Nothing more than a tactical ploy, I take note of it. And I won’t take part.” This was said by Massimiliano Romeo, League group leader in the Senate and secretary of the Lombard League, to Corriere della Sera. “Attilio Fontana and I, and everyone else, are moving solely and exclusively for the good of League politics and, believe it or not, even for Salvini himself,” Romeo added. “No one has ever asked” Salvini “to step aside. It’s not a personal challenge. The issue is purely political. The party is in free fall. The trend is alarming. We are losing 0.2% a month. This means that, if there were to be a vote in May, we risk reaching it at around, if not below, 4%. We took Vannacci on board in the first place to recover some votes, although he often made statements that were difficult to share; then he left and took his votes with him. We are in difficulty, and we must not hide it from ourselves. In Varese, Bergamo, Brescia, Monza and Brianza, Valtellina, but also in Liguria and Piedmont, there is strong and widespread discontent…” “We,” Romeo continued, “are saying: Salvini can remain secretary, but let’s set up a sort of ‘election committee’, a team with real powers,” “to urgently put the party’s political line back on track. We must no longer chase Vannacci on his turf; it makes no sense to play a game of who can make the most outrageous statement. On important issues such as security and immigration, we must provide serious and concrete answers as a governing force, without filling them with the same crude populism of a general trying to win as many votes as possible on the right. Because, excuse me: Meloni is already on the right, isn’t she? Then Vannacci has gone even further. And us? Well, we need to become the League again, by reclaiming our identity.”