The mountain of the crisis has finally given birth to the little mouse. Berlusconi, pressed by the social partners and by the main players in the economy, said he was ready for discussion and was making a table available. Or perhaps the entire Parliament, where the prime minister himself could intervene, "if necessary". The rumors, from executive sources, have been chasing each other since yesterday evening. The gelatinous cocoon ofad personam, as defined by the opposition, perhaps marks some yielding, pressed by the real country, increasingly transversely intolerant. But for the moment there is no certain calendar: tonight, the presumed summit in Arcore between Berlusconi and the Lega's general staff will be decisive.
The hypothesis of the opening, in the coming days, of a confrontation with the social partners and with the forces of the opposition however, it is defined as very concrete. Yesterday evening Confindustria gave its approval. The competent ministers, Sacconi in primis, should sit at the table for the executive. It is not clear whether Tremonti will be involved, but his name does not appear at the moment: his absence would be bizarre and it cannot be excluded that today, full of meetings, will also serve to fine-tune this crucial aspect .
And in the meantime, on the sidelines of the institutional initiatives, the secretary of the PDL, Alfano, has said he is available to meet the social partners, today or tomorrow. A similar initiative was promoted by Pd and Udc. Also in this case, Berlusconi's political problems make the Government's action cumbersome. Who seems primarily concerned with distinguishing, within his own majority, reliable friends from those ready, if not to betray, to slip away. And then there is the initiative of a part of the opposition (the so-called D'Alema-Fini-Casini axis) with the Third Pole, which overshadows a different majority and a government led by a new prime minister.
Berlusconi, who has evoked plots of "strong powers" in this regard, confided that he fears being replaced by a UDC man (presumably the leader Casini) or rather by a "technician" like Mario Monti. But even among him there are rumors of an alternative premier: among the various hypotheses, sometimes fanciful, the names of Alfano or Schifani have emerged. The Knight, as largely predictable, is willing to resist strenuously, rejecting any "palace" solution with disdain: rather he prefers the confrontation in the courtroom and the clear counting of the votes.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary week, before the summer closure, is dotted with new "stress tests" for the majority. Today we start with the discussion on the refinancing of Italian missions abroad, to move on to the internal budget of the Chamber. The PDL, parliamentary sources later explain, is studying how to improve the "Calderoli text" of constitutional reform: the prevailing hypothesis is to ask for the unification of the provinces and to cut other bodies. Another thorny chapter, where endless discussions risk blocking concrete actions.
And there is also the so-called "long process": the meeting of group leaders in the Chamber has been convened tomorrow. Impossible, according to PDL sources, for the provision to arrive in the Commission before the summer break, after the disputed green light from the armored Senate with confidence. It is not excluded that everything could end up on a dead end, due to the perplexities raised even within the PDL (and by the new Minister of Justice) and by the League.
