General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo is a champion, as he demonstrated in his victorious battle against the Covid and he has all the credentials to do well also as Extraordinary Commissioner for the reconstruction of the flooded areas of theEmilia Romagna. His appointment, however, is the result of yet another somersault by the premier Giorgia Meloni and the Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who cannot believe that all Italians have a short memory. As you pointedly recalled Sebastian Messina in "la Repubblica", Meloni and Salvini were among the fiercest opponents of General Figliuolo during Covid who - to the applause of the No Vax - accused of implementing "chilling measures" and of "unconstitutional madness" when, in the midst of of the pandemic, proposed the use of the green pass for restaurants and public transport.
But now Meloni and Salvini forget all the criticisms of the past and bring back General Figliuolo for the flood emergency in Emilia-Romagna. Better late than never. However, one can see from a mile away that the rethinking of Figliuolo is entirely instrumental and was only useful in blocking the way for the Governor of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, who also according to the Governors of the right would have been the ideal Commissioner to manage the after-flood, as he demonstrated on the occasion of the 2012 earthquake. But in the eyes of the Meloni and Salvini voters, Governor Bonaccini is irredeemably wrong: he is the President of the Democratic Party and this makes his undisputed managerial qualities irrelevant. Luckily the alternative choice fell on the excellent Son, but the vulnerability to common sense still remains. Therefore Meloni and Salvini down from the tower.
