Rai censors referendums, Meloni is afraid of quorum

Rai pretends that referendums do not exist and, beyond the protests of the left, the boycott via state TV does not do honor to Giorgia Meloni. This time the opposition has every reason to protest loudly and the question to the Supervisory Commission presented yesterday by the PD is really the least.

Luckily for the referendum supporters, there is Mediaset. Marina Berlusconi does not take the logic of the alignment into account at all. Despite being a majority shareholder of FI, whose leader Tajani yesterday made official his choice to boycott the polls, she is not upset if on the most followed program on Italian TV, Amici di Maria De Filippi, Geppi Cucciari launches into a long monologue in favor of the referendum. Marco Mengoni, guest of Fabio Fazio, does the same, and the push of the winner of Sanremo is another worry for the majority that is counting not only on the failure to reach the quorum but also on a complete flop, that is, on a percentage of voters around 30%. For two bad news for the anti-referendum supporters, a very good one arrives. The CISL has given instructions not to vote: "It's a rearguard battle. I won't go to vote ", urges the secretary Daniela Fumarola. The Cisl then clarified that this was not an invitation to abstain but the signal to members certainly arrived anyway, loud and clear.

The majority is rubbing their hands not only because the sabotage of the second largest Italian union obviously has a concrete impact on turnout but also because it facilitates the version of the referendum evidence that the entire right, evidently by order of the party, has decided to accredit starting with the prime minister herself. The referendum, according to this domesticated interpretation, is only a sort of congress of the Democratic Party in disguise and a political battle entirely internal to the left. Therefore, it is of no interest to anyone else and in particular to workers. Obviously the fable has a component of reality that allows Meloni and her troops to cling to it and amplify it to the point of falsifying. The minority, starting with the party president Bonaccini, has given the indication to vote against.

The secretary reiterated that the party line is to reject the Jobs Act, which was also wanted and voted for by the PD during Renzi's time. Freedom to dissent, therefore, as long as it is clear that the party line is one and whoever sides with the other side has the right to do so but does not question the official choice. A bit far-fetched, in fact a lot, but that's how it is. Since the minority has given the indication to vote, even if it is to reject the questions, Elly believes that it will still be possible to count, she takes advantage of an overwhelming majority in favor of repealing the Jobs Act and in this sense the referendum is effectively also a front of the conflict that is increasingly less under the skin in the PD. But reducing it to this and nothing else as the center-right is trying to do is a convenient vision that radically distorts reality.

The real good news for the referendum front, even more than the monologue of the Sardinian comedian, is the opposing alignment of the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa. Throughout the week and also yesterday, a blanket campaign by the referendum supporters continued against the explicit position of the President of the Senate who promises to campaign for abstention, indicated as a serious wound to democracy. There is no lack of the usual request for resignation from Avs, which is no longer denied to anyone. In reality, the institutional blunder is there, but limited. Napolitano, as President of the Republic, had underlined at the time of the referendum on drilling the full correctness of abstention and even without openly asking not to vote, the meaning of the message was unequivocal. La Russa, as usual, was a bit immoderate. But the anger and fury of the opposition are probably artificial. No one misses the fact that La Russa's position not only does not damage but gives a hand to the turnout.

It does not mean that the quorum is within reach. Today, however, the turnout is indicated by the polls at around 32% on the eve of the final rush. It is therefore not excluded that the campaign in the coming weeks will allow us to at least get close to the quorum and perhaps even exceed it. The second outcome would be sensational: an earthquake. But even the first, with a percentage over 40%, would be a political fact of the first magnitude and would not remain without consequences. It is no coincidence that for the first time the prime minister did not limit herself to the fine words of May 1st but followed up on the message with the first unfinished meeting with slaps and fish in the face with the unions. Giorgia is partly aware that arriving at the polls in a climate of head-on collision with Cgil and Uil would be entirely to the advantage of the referendum supporters. She is partly aware that perhaps after June 8th and 9th, continuing to consider job security and wages as non-primary urgency issues will be impossible.

FROM

David Romoli