The general discussion on the Ukrainian law decree begins at 6 pm in the hall of Palazzo Madama. The final vote is scheduled for tomorrow, announced the president Roberto Calderoli, referring to the classroom what was established by the conference of group leaders. The government will decide in the next few hours whether or not to place trust in the provision, meanwhile Prime Minister Mario Draghi is determined to go straight on increasing military spending to 2% of GDP in compliance with NATO commitments and obtains the support of the Quirinale after an interview al Colle with Sergio Mattarella. Strong also of the axis with the Head of State, the Prime Minister has decisively sank his blows by clarifying that one cannot escape from the commitments with NATO, on pain of breaking the pact that holds the majority in place. A strong message, addressed to the entire government coalition and above all to the 5-star Movement . The head of the government filtered this line from Palazzo Chigi after seeing the President of the Republic last night: a meeting preceded by a face-to-face meeting with the leader of the Giuseppe Conte Movement. A line that the premier is determined to pursue by discussing, in view of the vote in the Senate, also with other exponents of the majority (in the morning the meeting with the vice president of Forza Italia Antonio Tajani).
Draghi went up to Colle in the late afternoon yesterday to update the head of state on the matter of military spending, which has been heating up the political debate for days . With the possibility of an agreement between the parties on increasing defense resources having faded, the government is preparing to secure the dl Ukraine with confidence in the Senate chamber . But the clash still explodes in the two Foreign and Defense commissions where the executive welcomes the FdI agenda on reaching the 2% threshold for defense, which therefore is not voted on. The pentastellated senators, who were determined to speak out against the Brothers of Italy proposal, however, do not agree and define the government’s choice as “unacceptable”. “It is unacceptable that the government has decided to accept the FdI agenda despite the strong opposition of the main majority force. Despite our insistent request, the president of the defense commission, Roberta Pinotti, did not want to put it to the vote. fear
“, thundered the vice president of the M5S Paola Taverna and the senators Vito Crimi, Gianluca Ferrara, Ettore Licheri, Andrea Cioffi and Gianluca Castaldi.
Giorgia Meloni’s party rejoices: “The political goal has been achieved for us”. And the president of the senators of FdI Luca Ciriani turns between the lines to M5s and LeU, also insinuating doubt on the outcome of the vote of confidence in the Chamber: “Those who wanted the vote of the agenda must ask whether they will vote the decree or not” he says.
Conte talks about it with Draghi at Palazzo Chigi: an hour and a half interview, very tense , according to what is said in parliamentary circles, at the end of which the leader of the Movement clarifies that a government crisis is not on the horizon, but “we have a right to be heard”. Then in the evening, speaking on the broadcast to DiMartedi on La7, the leader of the M5s assures: “We will vote for Ukraine in both the House and the Senate” and stresses that “it has nothing to do with the conflict, because we are not talking about aid to Ukraine. We continue to say yes to economic, humanitarian and military aid in Kiev, even though the decision was painful. “, Added the former premier. “I asked where these billions will be found. Draghi was keen to say that it is important to respect the commitments of NATO but obviously there is this sensitivity”. Conte reiterated that “the 2% commitment has never been questioned , but if we have 2024 as our horizon it would be a significant spike in spending, but it has never been said that Italy will not respect the commitment “. While the goal would be to define this curve “progressively to 2030”, with “a path of sustainability that, if we speak among allies, is perfectly understandable”. To discuss this issue in the morning you brought together the M5s senators: “We are working to finalize the official position on current issues,” she said. “” When the M5s poses a problem it is to create a government crisis. This is the corner where the mainstream puts us. ”
The clash between Giuseppe Conte and Mario Draghi sends the government majority into fibrillation. The secretary of the Pd Enrico Letta follows the events with concernand even within Leu – the party closest to the former prime minister – the move is not appreciated. According to some parliamentarians, the problem is that Draghi has now lost patience and mediation becomes more complicated . “Yesterday – they explain from the Democratic Party – it was possible to arrive at a majority agenda that would link military spending to European defense, which would introduce graduality, which would also touch on the issue of the economic situation of families and businesses. They did not want to, they sought out the excuse to vote no “. What worries the Democrats, as a parliamentary source says, is Conte’s attitude: “Where does he want to go
“, and the question. Andrea Marcucci makes himself heard: “International agreements are respected, especially during a war in Europe.the intolerance towards the 5-star ‘allies’ re-emerges , even if the first to attack are Matteo Renzi and Carlo Calenda, who have long been asking to break with them. “Draghi is a statesman, Conte is a populist”, writes leader Iv on Twitter. “We are with Draghi, we are with Italy”. And Calenda applauds Mario Draghi, who reminded the M5s leader of the increase in military spending decided by the Conte II government. “When a man with a thickness meets one with a Casalino, the one with a Casalino
Bravissimo Draghi”. The leader of Action then uses sarcasm and emphasizes Conte’s “consistency”.
“I don’t know if you can put your trust” on Ukraine, “I read statements by Conte who said that he will vote for it, I struggle to keep up with the semantic and factual somersaults of the Cinquestelle, right now these things shouldn’t happen for seriousness” he says. Undersecretary of Defense Giorgio Mule (FI) interviewed on Radio too on Rai Radio 1. “Having set this caravanserai in motion for purely political reasons internal to the Five stars is not good for Italy and is an enemy of the image of Italy abroad “he observes.
The leader of the pentastellati, however, warns: “In the Def there are no leaks forward” on the increase in military spending. A stumbling block currently dismissed as the document on economics and finance, initially foreseen in the CDM on Thursday, will arrive on the table of Palazzo Chigi only on 5 or 6 April after the preparation of the Mef and accounting. A shift that at this point also serves to soften the heated political climate on the issue. To give the sense of the decision with which Palazzo Chigi is addressing this topic there is also the choice to disclose the data on the defense budget under the Conte governments that“in 2018 it recorded about 21 billion, in 2021 24.6 billion,” an increase of 17% “, numbers compared with the increase of” 5.6% between 2021 and 2022 “. leader of the Movement, in view of other possible moves. But even on this it is not long in coming the reply of the pentastellati who contest the data and speak of a “12% increase in 3 years” with the Conte governments and a 6.5 % in a year with the Draghi government: “The wealth of details with which ‘sources of Palazzo Chigi’ have reconstructed the Italian military spending is curious and truly extraordinary. The same meticulousness should be used to give news of the expected increase in military spending for years 2023 and 2024, which represent the fulcrum of the confrontation of these days ”, say M5s sources.
