The race for Lombardy, to the vote in the early months of 2023, agitates the center-right, with the relations between the outgoing governor
Attilio Fontana
and the vice president
Letizia Moratti
that become incandescent.
"I pointed out to the vice president and councilor for Welfare Letizia Moratti, in a clear and unequivocal way, that our fiduciary relationship, in terms of political positioning, has been cracked": the president of Lombardy Attilio Fontana underlined this, adding that he will take "a final decision after a confrontation with the center-right leaders ".
"I met the president Attilio Fontana to whom I confirmed the consistent willingness offered to the center-right" to be a candidate for president of Lombardy.
Letizia Moratti explained this in a note, adding that she is waiting for a decision by the center-right.
"I am confidently waiting for the national leaders of the center-right to express themselves definitively on the matter - you added - after the formation of the new government, which at this moment is the absolute priority of our country".
The councilor for Welfare lit the fuse, called to cover this role in the most difficult period of Covid: "I was called by President Fontana and I accepted out of responsibility and love for my region, with the parallel commitment of a passing of the baton at the end of the legislature - said Marco Damilano interviewed on Rai Tre - I have worked and work consistently with that commitment but consistently with those indications I have also built a civic network ".
Words to which Fontana promptly replied by asking his deputy "a clear and definitive clarification", because "one thing is to engage in politics, another to play on people's respectability and to administer without knowing which side you want to be on: with us or against us ".
The relations between the two therefore seem to have reached the minimum terms.
It is not the first time that the former president of Rai and mayor of Milan says he is ready to take the field for Lombardy: "Mine is not a self-nomination but an availability", she specifies, reiterating her no to any positions ministerial.
"I would be honored but I would not accept. I think I can give greater added value here in my region - she says - I hope to be able to contribute to a positioning of my region, which is also the engine of the country from an economic and innovation point of view. Lombardy means serving the country. I think it is more common for me to continue ".
The days go by and the stalemate continues.
"I have said in a fair and coherent way that I am waiting for a decision from the center-right that I think should be final, naturally after the formation of the executive", reiterates Moratti, who for the first time comes out into the open, revealing that he has his own project in hand. .
"I also worked on a civic network that I built by listening to different worlds, from industry to the third sector, to build a program", he underlines.
Almost an ultimatum, which triggers the reaction of Governor Fontana.
"Contrary to what you said, I have never promised anyone a passing of the baton at the end of my mandate - replies the Lombard governor -. It is a prerogative of the parties, then as now. It was neither then nor today in my availability. As everyone knows they are not hereditary positions. So it is not very clear what spirit of service you invoke if the condition was to be appointed vice president and also candidate for president. It is not clear to me where the sense of responsibility lies ".
Fontana also said he was surprised "that Letizia Moratti does not declare that she voted for the center-right on Sunday", since, when asked about it by the journalist Damilano, the Lombard vice president merely said that "she voted because it is a duty".
The time for fair play therefore seems to be over Someone, Moratti warns, is already ready to give her his support: "There were those who asked me (to apply for my candidacy) but, for institutional confidentiality, until the center-right clarifies its position I will not say who ".
The Lega, which in recent days reiterated its support for Fontana with the secretary Matteo Salvini, is going straight.
"There is amazement and bewilderment for a councilor like Letizia Moratti who has worked and is working in a center-right junta, but who for months has announced that she wants to run as a candidate with other parties, perhaps even supported by the left. consequences - comments Fabrizio Cecchetti, Lombard coordinator of the Lega - With all the challenges that await the Lombardy Region in the coming months, we have no time to waste with doubts, controversies or personal ambitions. 50% of the votes also last Sunday. If anyone has changed their mind or team, step aside. "