They met late yesterday evening Matteo Renzi and Silvio Berlusconi at Palazzo Chigi. And at the end of the meeting, the premier would have taken stock with Luca Lotti and Lorenzo Guerini, who attended the meeting with Berlusconi, Verdini and Letta. "Therefore, the agreement on the reform of the Senate is holding, there will only be adjustments on marginal points," Renzi summed up. And he added: «The stakes set in the meeting of the Nazarene remain. Therefore the bill will be approved by May 25, as established and we will deal with the Italicum later ».
How to say, to put it with the Prime Minister "no space for delaying and blackmailing maneuvers". The meeting took place after the nominations. And Renzi was very "excited" about the issue: "I am satisfied with the revolution we have made on women, putting them at the top," he told Berlusconi and company.
In any case, this was not the reason for the summit, which will arouse controversies that do not seem to worry the prime minister, even though he is aware of the fact that Grillo will use this conversation to blame him: «In Forza Italia there is great excitement in the Senate - he had explained to his followers before the interview – and it is right to talk to the opposition leader if this means saving the process of reforms». Renzi's pragmatic spirit, once again, got the better of the doubts about the advisability of the meeting: "Berlusconi wants public recognition, we want reform."
"Don't worry, Matteo holds the pact between us," Berlusconi told him. And so Renzi faced his interlocutor with the usual frankness: «I want to see the facts. And the votes that Fi will give, in the Commission and in the classroom, will be concrete facts, because this reform is important and I have undertaken to get it approved by May 25th. Not for the electoral campaign, but because it serves the country". And faced with a Berlusconi who tried to negotiate so as not to let his opponent win this hand, Renzi was clear: "This is an important reform, which your electorate likes too, you should ride it and claim it, not retreat in defense" .
«I have no problems, I'm not tied to the seat – Renzi specified -, I haven't signed a contract to stay at Palazzo Chigi for life, I can always leave. If we can't get things done, let's stop the trouble and go to the elections." Elections that Renzi does not wish, does not seek and does not want, convinced as he is that the important thing is to move forward, make reforms, "revolutionize Italy" and, on the strength of this, negotiate less rigid rules with the EU partners, "because the Europe of rigor is a Europe without a future". But the prime minister also knows that even just airing the threat of an early vote works when the interlocutor wants everything but to go to the vote while his party is unravelling. Therefore he is ready for a "confrontation on the bill", as long as the structure of the law is not "distorted".
