The friend Francesco Fera at the helm of Aifa as acting president in place of the former Giorgio Palù, while the stalemate continues at Istat, but with a new fixed point: the former president Gian Carlo Blangiardo will not be able to participate in the tender for the renewal of the presidency of the institute, with all due respect to the League and above all to its leader Matteo Salvini who have been blocking the nomination for months, leaving Istat in the hands of the president regent Francesco Chelli.
Istat has been without leaders for a year
The story is now becoming longer and more complicated. In fact, Istat has been without a real president for almost a year. On 9 March last year, the former president and demographer dear to the League, Gian Carlo Blangiardo, was reconfirmed at the helm of the Institute for another four years by the Meloni government. Shortly afterwards, however, his nomination was rejected by the Chambers with two thirds of the votes of the Constitutional Affairs commissions for the opposition's no.
Since then a seamless stalemate has begun and Francesco Chelli, senior member of the Istat board of directors, he took on the role of "acting president” only for ordinary administration. His mandate expires on March 24, together with that of the entire board of directors. If a new president is not appointed, Istat will face the commissioner. For almost a year, however, the Government has been unable to agree on the name, in an entirely political back and forth that leaves one of the most important institutes in the country at the mercy of power games, with the League having no intention of giving up in Blangiardo.
Istat: Blangiardo excluded from the tender
However, it may have arrived a few days ago the real turning point. While everyone's eyes were focused on the Regional in Sardinia which then decreed the defeat of the centre-right with consequent controversy, on 22 February the notice for the renewal of the presidency of the statistical institute was published: Gian Carlo Blangiardo will not be able to participate. The reason is easy to say: they will be able to take part in the race only full professors. Blangiardo has been retired for more than four years. Simply put: he's out. In fact, the Brunetta rule which allowed pensioners to hold an unpaid public position is not covered.
Meloni and the competent minister (of Forza Italia) Paolo Zangrillo left the allies no margin for action. Zangrillo, in agreement with Prime Minister Meloni, will have to choose between the 3 candidates that emerge from the announcement. Then it will once again be up to Parliament to have its say. An agreement within the majority could at this point arrive on the name of the current acting president Chelli. His stay at the Institute would be a way to overcome the tug of war between Fdi and Lega, also considering that it would be a name appreciated by Giorgetti.
A friend of Meloni's at the top of AIFA
Meanwhile, after resignation of Giorgio Palù in open controversy with the Minister of Health Schillaci, too AIFA is in the hands of a "regent". This is the pharmacist from Puglia Francesco Fera, very close to Fdi undersecretary Marcello Gemmato and to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni herself.
As emphasized Republic Fera has only been involved in healthcare since 2019, when he joined Aress, the strategic regional agency for health and social care of the Puglia region. Experience with medications etc. it is therefore little, but the members of the AIFA board of directors are not always technicians. “They were often regional councilors, legal experts, technicians who worked at the ministry. All things that Fera is not anyway”, explains the newspaper. Friendship probably won on the CV.
