The uncertainty about the rules (electoral law) was not enough to vote in the upcoming political elections. It was also necessary that the date of these should depend on a tug of war within the majority that supports the Monti government and on what will be decided for the elections in the three regions in crisis: Lombardy, Lazio and Molise.
Let's go in order and try to make a brief summary of the previous episodes. It all begins with the crisis in the Lazio Region, overwhelmed by the scandals culminating in the arrest of Fiorito, leader of the PDL, guilty of having enriched himself by using the money from the public funding attributed to his council group. The first to cry out at the scandal is the president of the Giunta Polverini, who, claiming for herself the merit of having driven out the corrupt, opens the crisis.
But then he hesitates, indeed takes time. It does not dissolve the Council and does not call elections as required by law. Faced with a ruling by the TAR which reaffirms the tight deadline (90 days) for the elections and the inertia of the President, the Minister of the Interior indicates for the vote of the Regions in crisis (there are also Lombardy and Molise) the dates of 10 and 11 February. Meanwhile, Polverini announces an appeal to the Council of State.
But the toughest reaction against the Viminale's indication comes from the Pdl. Berlusconi, returning from Kenya, denounces the rudeness and the conspiracy threatens to throw the Monti government into crisis if there is not a prompt and prudent rethinking. Alfano in turn explains that we need to vote together for policies and regions, in order to save money.
Beyond the noble reasons indicated (savings), there is the fact that the PDL does not want early elections in Lazio and Lombardy because his eventual defeat would give further impetus to the centre-left, already favored by the polls (grillini permitting) for the next policies. In addition, Berlusconi, by raising the bar and tension on this topic, hopes to neutralize and avoid what he called "the blunder" in the center-right primaries, wanted by Alfano and the party, but strongly opposed by him. It should not be forgotten that, for Lazio, the Pdl has not yet found a candidate and for the post-Formigoni in Lombardy there is debate between Albertini and Maroni, already indicated by the League.
So far the PDL. As for the others, Bersani and the Pd insist on the need for the law that requires the vote in the Regions to be respected for February, Casini tries to mediate launching the hypothesis of merging regional and political ones at a closer date than April. We are talking about mid-March. The Pd and Pdl could also converge on this hypothesis. But to arrive at that date, the President of the Republic would have to dissolve the Chambers in advance.
Napolitano, on the other hand, has repeatedly made it known that the legislature must come to an end, also to approve an electoral reform that frees us from Porcellum, perhaps avoiding its fattening and its derivatives. Of course, if there were, on this point, a strong acceleration by the political forces in Parliament and beyond, the picture before the President of the Republic would change. But the signals go in a completely different direction.
On the sidelines of the culture forum, Napolitano, when questioned by journalists, replied that "for now" he does not speak of election dates. And certainly it would be desirable to move forward on these issues, respecting the law and the decisions of those who apply it, but the impression is that this tangle can only be resolved with a compromise between the political forces. To favor which high institutions could also apply. Starting with a government that has so far enjoyed a third party position in the debate between the parties. Thirdness that risks weakening as the electoral deadline approaches. And so the solution for election day does not yet appear at hand.
