The referendum effect overwhelms the government and two heads roll, with a third that resists, triggering a very tough tug-of-war with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Daniela Santanchè left the Ministry of Tourism offices around 3:00 PM, where she had been barricaded all morning, following Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's harsh statement calling for her resignation . The FdI representative arrived at the ministry in a blue car at 10:05 AM, half an hour later than announced and scheduled. The large group of journalists present asked her if she intended to resign, but she did not respond.
At this point the only way forward is a motion of no confidence, which has already been presented by the opposition and scheduled for the Chamber of Deputies on Monday 30 March .
High voltage
Yesterday, in the aftermath of the referendum defeat, the Prime Minister launched a redde rationem: all government members with embarrassing legal issues were dismissed. And so, at the end of a very hectic day , the resignations of Undersecretary of Justice Andrea Delmastro and Cabinet Chief Giusi Bartolozzi arrived, at the prime minister's explicit request .
Then, in an unprecedented and almost unprecedented statement, she explicitly asked Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè to step down . Santanchè resists, sparking a tense standoff: on trial in Milan for alleged false accounting at Visibilia and under investigation for alleged bankruptcy and fraud against the National Institute of Social Security (INPS), Santanchè has been on the hook for a year now. She had made her resignation conditional on a request from Meloni, which has now arrived, more explicitly than ever.
"I appreciate Delmastro and Bartolozzi's decision to step back and thank them for their dedicated work. I hope that, along the same lines of institutional sensitivity, a similar decision will be shared by Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè," the Prime Minister's statement reads.
Her friend Ignazio La Russa was also reportedly involved in convincing her to step down. No way: Santanchè sent word to the prime minister. Then the ministry issued a statement that shocked Giorgia Meloni:
