These are decisive hours for the Rai appointments. The negotiations between the Lega and the 5 Star Movement went on indefinitely throughout the night, in an attempt to close the agreement before this morning's Council of Ministers and thus avoid a sensational postponement of the shareholders' meeting, scheduled for this afternoon. But the game on public television is intertwined with that on state Railways, after thezeroing of the Board appointed by Renziana announced in recent days – with aftermath of controversy – by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Danilo Toninelli. And precisely the double track makes it difficult to square. Especially since the FS is now swooping down on the affair the M5S-Lega tug of war on Tab.
According to rumors, Thursday would be staged a summit at Palazzo Chigi between the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, and the two Deputy Prime Ministers Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini. The meeting, initially confirmed by sources in the Prime Minister's Office, was later denied by the Northern League leader: "I spoke to Giorgetti - said Salvini - no summit on Rai, Authority, Railways, appointments, Arera, Gse and all the acronyms of which I read. I didn't deal with these things. We talked about the economy, the Dignity Decree but also in terms of manoeuvres, flat tax and fiscal peace. I saw Di Maio, but I see him every day, and Conte who was going to the Quirinale for the oath of the constitutional judge".
The tug of war between the two majority parties mainly concerns two seats: that of the director of Tg1 and that ofRAI managing director, who – with the entry into force of the governance reform launched by the Renzi government – will replace the old figure of the general manager and will have much more powers.
For the CEO, Di Maio focuses on Fabrizio Salini, former director of La7 and former Fox. Salvini opposes it, accusing Salini of being too tied to Renzi's world, as a partner in Simona Ercolani's "Stand by me" production company. But it is possible that that of the Northern League leader is simply a strategy aimed at obtaining carte blanche on the appointment to the news of the flagship network.
As an alternative to Salini, the other names on the table are those of Andrew Castellari of Viacom and of Marcello Ciannamea, current director of programming.
In the Rai house, it is also necessary to decide who will occupy The Presidency. The goal is to find an alternative candidate to Giovanna Bianchi Clerici, now considered out of the running, who could have two-thirds of the Supervisory Commission convened for Wednesday.
Next Tuesday, July 31, the assembly of will be held instead Railways. After the 5 Stars have placed Fabrizio Palermo at the helm of the CDP, it seems obvious that the appointment of Renato Mazzoncini's successor belongs to the League. The problem is figuring out who will be, because the names in the running are still different: from Massimo Sarmi, former CEO of Poste, a Maurizio Gentile, currently at the helm of Rfi, passing through Horace Iacono, today at the top of Trenitalia, e Stefano Donnarumma, CEO of Acea.
Gentile seems to be the most appreciated by the grillini for the work done on the safety front of the regional railway network, but the investigation into the train derailment in Pioltello, which cost the lives of three people, is pending on him. If the choice fell on him, Toninelli would have difficulty justifying the dismissal of Mazzoncini, who was officially sent home precisely because he was under investigation.
Also for this reason, another candidate has gained ground in the last few hours, very welcome to Davide Casaleggio: it is about Alfredo Altavilla, the former head of FCA's European operations who recently resigned because the group preferred him Mike Manley as Sergio Marchionne's successor.
