In the absence of denials, clarifications, and the like – or in the presence of other clues such as a protest raised by the loyal Paolo Del Debbio, personally hired or wanted by him more than thirty years ago in the then Fininvest – the discontent attributed by Fatto Quotidiano to Fedele Confalonieri for the recent meeting in Cologno Monzese, at the Mediaset headquarters, between the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and secretary of Forza Italia Antonio Tajani and the expanded company leadership including Gianni Letta can be considered reliable. He is somewhat part of Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy as well, having been his main undersecretary in the government, a role worth more than a minister, advisor, ambassador, or friend.
That meeting, precisely because it ended with the confirmation of “confidence” in Tajani in the context of calls for changes within the party, lent itself even more to an unsettling portrayal of the position of Forza Italia’s secretary. It appears to be governed more “from the outside” than from within, as Paolo Barelli lamented a few days later, who is also Tajani’s co-in-law, dutifully leaving the presidency of the Chamber group to Enrico Costa and negotiating a compensatory entry into the government.
Confalonieri is said to have also expressed his dissent in writing, extended also to the hypothesis, according to Marco Travaglio’s newspaper, of an explicit and full descent into politics, following in the footsteps of the father, by one or both of the late Cavaliere’s eldest children, Marina and Pier Silvio. They would also inherit the problems or side effects, negative according to Berlusconi’s old friend on every level, including judicial as well as entrepreneurial due to so-called conflicts of interest.
Regarding the fact that the meeting was organized at the Mediaset headquarters, Letizia Moratti, guest of Lilli Gruber’s television talk show, also expressed disagreement, while defending and sharing the Berlusconi family’s interest in the political and media health, as well as economic, of the blue party.
As if these reservations and controversies were not enough, others could arise from a long behind-the-scenes report by Francesco Verderami in Corriere della Sera, concerning moods, projects, and more of Gianni Letta. It was even noted, and reportedly hoped for, his readiness for an electoral tie next year between the center-right and center-left, with the consequent opportunity or necessity to imagine new scenarios. This also in reference to the now imminent deadline, less than two years after the renewal of the Chambers, of Sergio Mattarella’s second and final presidential term at the Quirinale.
Who better than the ninety-one-year-old Gianni Letta could move, work, weave relationships, inspire and more, Verderami practically asked? And not only him, I believe, reading it. Perhaps even the predictably displeased Giorgia Meloni, who in the meantime can console herself with the solidarity received in Parliament from the PD secretary Elly Schlein after the controversy with American President Donald Trump. A controversy from which the premier could not escape in defending the Pope, also American, from Trump’s attacks.
