Meloni, change of pace: goodbye to those who create embarrassment and no confidence vote

In over three years at Palazzo Chigi, they had never seen her so furious. The day after Giorgia Meloni following the defeat in the referendum turned into a fierce redde rationem. The justice, she reportedly vented to her team, is historically a theme dear to the right and must absolutely be recovered. Therefore, all government members with judicial issues that create embarrassment must go. Thus, the resignations of Andrea Delmastro and Giusi Bartolozzi arrived. Until the unprecedented note in which a Prime Minister asks a minister to step back. That is Daniela Santanchè, who has so far resisted the pressure in a high-stakes standoff.

The FdI representative was already in hot water at the beginning of 2025. Yesterday, for moral suasion, the President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, was also involved, just like back then when the Minister of Tourism conditioned her resignation on a request from Meloni. At that time, it did not arrive; now it is more than explicit.

The Prime Minister (who could take the interim of Tourism or choose a prominent technician from the sector) will not ask Parliament for a vote of confidence after the referendum defeat, she does not consider it a political crisis, and currently has no meetings scheduled with the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella. But with the ballots closed, she immediately thought of a reshuffle of her team. And the word "reshuffle" is circulating again. In the majority, it is clear that replacing a third minister (after Gennaro Sangiuliano and Raffaele Fitto) requires a confidence of the Chambers.

Meanwhile, in the high-level assessments of the government, the referendum debacle has non-negligible endogenous reasons. Carlo Nordio was never in question, but the Prime Minister, they say, points the finger at the "lack of commitment" from the Lega on the referendum. Internal analyses of the vote would have revealed that part of the electorate punished the "lack of coherence" in that "if you make a mistake, you pay" used against opponents and applied with unparalleled rigor to internal cases. Above all, indeed, on Santanchè, Delmastro, and Bartolozzi. Three weak points to eliminate to neutralize the attacks from the opposition. In this context, the accelerations on Delmastro and Bartolozzi were born, during hours marked by meetings between Meloni and the leaders of FdI. The "own goal" of Bartolozzi regarding the judiciary "execution squad" was considered heavy at Palazzo Chigi. And even for her - who has a technical role but has been a protagonist in many political events, including the Almasri case, for which she is under investigation - the resignations came. Just eight hours earlier, Nordio had secured her, who in his own way immediately felt the acceleration.

The delegations to the Dap could go to Deputy Minister Francesco Paolo Sisto or Undersecretary Andrea Ostellari, otherwise another undersecretary from FdI will be appointed. For the former magistrate, there is already talk of a position in the upcoming round of appointments for the leadership of state-owned companies. The double move by Meloni is appreciated by those in Fi: a political move deemed spot on in azzurri circles, it lowers the tension and spares the government from instrumentalizations.