“I had asked to improve the list, not to boycott it”. According to the newspaper Repubblica, this was the Prime Minister’s reaction. And you could believe it, because after reading what happened in the hours that preceded the presentation of the list, and not only in Lazio, it is likely that the delay was caused by contrasts, disputes and misunderstandings.

Silvio Berlusconi is accused of having ordered some changes in the lists, and he even changed his mind at the last minute after the results of some surveys, that suggested for him to be included in the list, an idea which was then abandoned. So there was a real black out. Even in Campania something unpredictable happened. The regional coordinator and Mp Nicola Cosentino proposed as a candidate, without the executive of the Pdl knowing, Roberto Conte, who was sentenced for mafia association, causing the rage of Minister Mara Carfagna and the candidate for the Presidency Stefano Caldoro. It was a night blitz, according to Caldoro’s entourage, that placed morality at the centre of the campaign. But in Lazio the story is different.

The person who had to present the list was Alfredo Milioni, who had already been late in the past. In 2005, since he was not happy with the list that Forza Italia had entrusted him with, he disappeared the whole day, causing everyone to worry. So we imagine that he took Berlusconi’s advice in a very serious way, since he arrived 50 minutes late. But Milioni said that he was 30 minutes early and that he was physically stopped when he tried to hand over the lists. But this version is extremely suspicious: if it were true, an investigation should be opened because of a serious crime. So nothing to do with the “mess” made by the Pdl of Lazio, also recognized by Fini and Berlusconi. Berlusconi blamed Alleanza Nazionale (An), since Renata Polverini, the Pdl candidate, belongs to that party. But Milioni belongs to Forza Italia, not An.

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute