Party animal Salvini loses lustre in Italian crisis
Celebrity minister faces being shut out of power after precipitating fall of coalition regime
IT WAS just three weeks ago, but in political terms it seems like an aeon.
Bare-chested, sun-tanned and smiling broadly, Matteo Salvini took a turn at a DJ’s turntable at a beach club on the Italian coast while young women in leopard print bikinis gyrated in front of him.
The deputy prime minister and head of the hard-Right League party seemed to be having the time of his life at the Papeete Beach club at Milano Marittima on the Adriatic – its tropical vibe and name inspired by the capital of French Polynesia.
Buoyed by the presence of the celebrity minister, the crowd were euphoric when a remixed version of Italy’s national anthem was blasted from giant speakers.
Mr Salvini seemed invincible. Since the general election in March last year, he had emerged as Italy’s de facto prime minister, more than doubling voter support for the League.
A few days after his beach antics, he precipitated a crisis with his coalition partners, the Five Star Movement, that brought down the government.
His aim was to demand fresh elections and have himself elected as prime minister at the head of a new, far-Right alliance.
But that was then. Just as the torrid days of early August have given way to thunderstorms and torrential rain across much of Italy, dark clouds have descended over Mr Salvini’s ambitions.
His tactic appears to have backfired. Instead of marching triumphantly towards elections, hand in hand with the far-Right Brothers of Italy party, Mr Salvini now risks being shut out of power altogether. His erstwhile allies, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, are in frantic backroom talks with the centre-Left opposition, the Democratic Party (PD), to concoct a new alliance.
Talks hit a stumbling block on Saturday when PD refused to back Mr Conte being reinstated as prime minister. Mr Conte resigned this week after accusing Mr Salvini of wrecking the populist coalition and seeking “full powers”, a reference to the authoritarian regime of Benito Mussolini.
At the Papeete Beach club, where the deputy prime minister made such a splash earlier this month, the sizzling heat has been replaced by leaden skies and choppy seas. Many of those lying on sunbeds or playing with their children think the League supremo has made a serious miscalculation.
“The move to create a government crisis has become an act of self-harm,” said Pietro Zumerle, 53, a former racing car driver from Verona, who owns a web marketing business. “The way he did it upset everyone – first he created the crisis, then he retreated, making his supporters angry.
“To hand the government over to the Left is not what he wanted. Something went amiss. The situation slipped out of his hands.’’
Thomas, 47, a businessman from Milan who declined to give his surname, said: “Salvini made a wrong move because he was too power hungry. He was acting like a prime minister because those around him made him think he was so popular he could do whatever he wanted. He put himself in this corner.”
Others think that Mr Salvini is playing the long game. “He He unmasked the crisis inside the coalition and forced them (Five Star) to show their cards. I think they fell into his trap,” said Francesca, a doctor from the northern Veneto region. Even if an election is months or years away, voters will ultimately reward Mr Salvini for his policy of closing Italy’s ports to migrants and refugees fleeing Libya, she said.
Sergio Mattarella, Mattar Italy’s president, has given Five Star and the PD, who were bitter rivals until this week, until next Wednesday to try to hammer out an accord and form a credible government. If it can be formed, and it is a big if, then the idea is that it would last for the rest of the legislature legis – another four years.
For Mr Salvini, the sunshine, the dancers and the mojitos all now seem a distant dream for the man nicknamed by his supporters Il Capitano – The Captain. The political ructions of the last two weeks have led to a sharp drop in the League’s popularity – from around 39 per cent before the crisis erupted to 31 per cent, according to the latest polls.
Meanwhile, his two adversaries have seen their support rise – from 22 per cent to 25 per cent for the PD and from 17 per cent to 21 per cent for the Five Star Movement. The gains Mr Salvini previously made in the polls for his hard line on migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean seem to have been severely dented.
From being apparent kingmakers, the League have become underdogs. “Salvini has got wrong everything that he could have got wrong,” said Maria Elena Boschi, a leading member of the PD and a former minister.
“He no longer has the air of invincibility that he once had,” she told La Republicca newspaper. “Even inside his party there are people now doubting his political acumen.” Many
‘He was acting like a prime minister because those around him made him think he was so popular’
analysts agree. Alessandra Ghisleri, from Euromedia research, said: “An element of vulnerability has emerged around Salvini from this crisis.” But it is far too early to write Mr Salvini’s political obituary.
There is a decent chance that Five Star and the Democratic Party will be unable to forge a new coalition. Or if they do, it might not survive very long.
They differ on a wide range of key issues, from parliamentary reform to public spending, immigration and attitudes towards the EU.
They also diverge sharply on the building of a trans-Alpine rail link from Turin to Lyon, which was the straw that broke the camel’s back of the previous coalition.
But if the two parties do form a new government, and elections are averted, Mr Salvini could be in the political wilderness for years and there is likely to be widespread anger among League supporters.
As dusk falls at the beach club, holidaymakers are muttering darkly about the putative new coalition between Five Star and the Democratic Party being a stitch-up by Italy’s “poteri forti” – the powerful forces of the establishment.
A few beachgoers tell The Sunday Telegraph that they think a popular revolt is not out of the question if Salvini is pushed to the margins. There will be fury across Italy’s north, the heartland of the League, said Claudio Testa, 40, from Milan. “Revolt? I don’t think so. But protests in the piazzas? Definitely.”