Mute before the judges. As already happened yesterday with the interrogation of the CEO of Iren, Paul Emilio Signorini, also the president of the Liguria region, John Toti, today he made use of the right not to answer before the investigating judge Paola Faggioni, afterwards arrest on charges of corruption. Toti remained in court for approximately half an hour, no more.
But the one who answered the most insistent question - that is to say the one which, from a political point of view, is really taking center stage across the board - was the lawyer Stefano Savi, Toti's defender, who told journalists: "Resignation? He is thinking about it but it is a decision that a person inserted in a political context certainly cannot make alone without discussion and in this condition", that is, under house arrest.
It is true that the time factor and the implications of the investigation a month from now will be crucial for Toti's political fate. In the centre-right, "guaranteeism" remains the watchword but, as the days pass, the belief is gaining ground that the governor of Liguria cannot hold out for long in these conditions. A thought that runs through Brothers of Italy, the party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In defense of the governor and against the magistrates, however, the Minister of Defense intervened yesterday with a certain vehemence Guido Crosetto, leading exponent of FdI: “With the logic used for Toti, almost all mayors, regional presidents and public managers can be arrested. I suppose they could also arrest most of the magistrates."
However, there is always a mantra within FdI: the need to clarify things as soon as possible, to avoid (also and above all) the judicial case intersecting and weighing on the European vote on 8 and 9 June. An electoral appointment that is now imminent and, what is more important, is crucial for the leader of the party as well as the head of the government: in particular, the unknown abstentionism is feared.
In FI Antonio Tajani remains firm in defending the values of guaranteeism: Toti "can continue to work, then we'll see". We need to wait, therefore. But for how long? In the corridors of Montecitorio, where the Ligurian investigation has been the main topic for a few days, someone is talking about two weeks, someone else about a month at most. Maurizio Lupi, leader of Noi Moderati (party of which the Ligurian governor is a member) goes unbalanced: "I am convinced that the arrests can be revoked". If the majority goes in no particular order, the pressing of the opposition for resignations, however, it intensifies day by day. The doubt remains: will they happen? And if so, will they materialize before or after the European Championships?
