Majority for Conte, but very small in the Senate, in a vote that ended in chaos: alone 156 yes out of 312 voters, including the votes of three senators for life and with the abstention of Italia Viva, except that of the socialist Nencini who voted for the Government. There were 140 against. Simple majority, therefore, for the Government, but below the absolute majority of 161 votes. It now remains to be seen whether Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who in his reply had admitted that "if he doesn't have the votes, the government goes home", will decide whether or not to go up to the Quirinale or to resign or at least to explain to the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, how things really are and whether the Government is able to move forward.
Numerically, the Government can certainly remain in the saddle - a simple majority is enough - but there is no doubt that it emerges from the Senate's vote of confidence very weak, because, barring the arrival of new defectors in the next few days, he will not have an easy life in the classroom but above all in the commissions. And it doesn't seem to be able to have the breathing space and political strength necessary to face major emergencies such as the health and economic ones.
Sensational the defections in extremis of two exponents of Forza Italia, including, after that of Renata Polverini yesterday in the Chamber, that of Maria Rosaria Rossi, a former loyalist of Silvio Berlusconi. Instead, you basically held the Italia Viva group, even if the socialist Riccardo Nencini, who is the bearer of the symbol, voted yes in extremis: the leader Matteo Renzi did not even participate in the vote.
As in the Chamber, the Senate debate on trust has been bitter: in his initial speech, Prime Minister Conte repeated that he considered the crisis "incomprehensible" and spared no criticism of Italia Viva, even if in a soft tone. Renzi's reply lasts, recalling the three crises that Italy is experiencing (health, economy and education) and pressing the prime minister to take the political turn "now or never".
The numbers speak clearly: the Government comes out crippled and the crisis certainly does not end there. If we consider that there were 156 votes in favor and 140 against, Italia Viva can become the real tip of the government's balance despite the ostracism decided by Conte and above all by the Democratic Party and the Five Stars. But first he will have to clarify the Nencini situation. In short, they will see all sorts of things at a time when the country needs a government that is finally active and far-sighted.
