The name of Marcello Foa, indicated by the government for the presidency of Rai, continues to divide. And the outcome of today's vote, Tuesday 31 July, in the board of directors of public television and Wednesday morning in the supervisory commission for the ratification of top management appointments – Marcello Foa president of the Lega and Fabrizio Salini wanted by M5S – is very uncertain. Foa and the government have received the support of the Brothers of Italy but not that of Forza Italia which, after the warning of the parent company in the Chamber Maria Stella Gelmini, also takes the veto of Antonio Tajani, vice president of FI: "We will not be able to vote on the candidate for president of Rai indicated by the Government. We wish they had followed a different method” he declared while visiting Mestre. His opinion confirmed by Silvio Berlusconi, which leaves little hope for the designated and contested president of Rai. Not only that but it marks the definitive break - if this is confirmed - between the Lega and Forza Italia
“It's not a personal matter – Tajani points out – but a question of method. When you are part of a coalition you cannot present a name saying take it or leave it. It is not a question of negotiations, we are not at the market, it is not a question of selling seats in exchange for votes. We are against the method but we want to keep this coalition”.
Forza Italia will therefore tip the balance of a day that could reserve several surprises such as, for example, the one proposed by Corriere della Sera which indicates Giampaolo Rossi, current Rai councilor voted by Fi and FdI, to replace Foa in the presidency . The choice should be made during the Rai Board of Directors meeting which will meet shortly before the supervisory commission where the numbers speak for themselves: a two-thirds majority of the commissioners is required for the appointment, equal to 27 out of 40. The majority controls 21 votes: 14 M5s + 7 Alloy. Pd e Forza Italy cast 7 votes each, Brothers of Italy e Lion two votes, and one vote is cast by the component referring to Mixed group. On balance, with 21 majority votes, 19 of the opposition, and a minimum threshold of 27 votes to be reached, obtaining the support of Forza Italia becomes decisive.
The political balance in the majority is at stake on Rai. And it runs the risk of definitively breaking the already precarious balance between FI, which it strongly contests the Dignity Decree arrived in the courtroom in Montecitorio, and the other partners. Silvio Berlusconi's wrath is unloading on Matteo Salvini for the management of the Rai presidency affair: this is the straw that broke the camel's back – is the reasoning of the former Cav – and a further negotiation failure of Forza Italia would only show “ weakness". Hence the possible relaunch by rejecting Marcello Foa with the vote in the supervisory commission and immediately asking for a comparison with the leader of the League on another name that could be an expression of the entire center-right. The name, as we said, could be that of Gianpaolo Rossi. To then resume the thread of the broader negotiation on the appointments. A possibility that does not however exclude a definitive break, reason those who have had the opportunity to hear the Cav in the last few hours, starting from the assumption that the Government could have a short and chaotic life.
