Meloni continues with the budget plan after a stormy session with an attempted fight between deputies

Giorgia Meloni’s government managed to approve this Friday the Document on Economy and Finance (DEF), the program that guides the country’s economic strategy for the coming years, after a heated session that should have ended in a fight between parliamentarianswhich forced an immediate suspension of the discussion.

The fight took place just before a new vote is needed to process the DEF, following Thursday’s surprise defeat in the House of Representatives, after the absence of several Conservative MPs prevented passage 6 votes a budgetary deviation of EUR 3,400 million in 2023 and EUR 4,500 million in 2024 needed to process the DEF proposed by the executive.

The tension reached a maximum when the opposition MPs Democratic Party (PD, center-left) left the hall, inter shouts of “out, out” from ultras brothers from Italy (FdI), from Meloni, who tried to justify their absences with the activities of the Executive Committee, and were reproached for taking a few days off for May 1.

At that point, Nico Stumpofrom the PD, rebelled against the FdL seats, although the situation did not worsen with the intervention of the secretary of the Chamber, whose president Lorenzo Fontana, who had already called the deputies to order, decided to temporarily interrupt the session.

After a short break, the session continued with a vote on the budget deviation needed to approve the DEF, which he received 221 votes for and 115 against.

Minister of Economy and Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti had to explain that the members of the Government Coalition “incorrectly” evaluated the vote on Thursday, considering the numerous absences, many of which were justified, and some without any explanation. “We will continue according to the plan. I think you learn from mistakes I hope that similar situations will not be repeated in the future,” he said.

This year’s deviation, intended to cover the tax cuts decided by the Meloni government, is needed to finance the labor regulation that will be on the agenda of the Council of Ministers on Monday, May 1, Giorgetti explained. The government’s goal was to complete the DEF review before Sunday’s meeting with unions.