The meeting lasted approximately four hours. But the name of the new FI group leader in the Chamber of Deputies has not yet been finalized. Enrico Costa remains in pole position, but the process for replacing Paolo Barelli remains unknown in the official accounts of the meeting requested by Marina and Pier Silvio Berlusconi at the Mediaset offices in Cologno Monzese, with Antonio Tajani, Gianni Letta, and Danilo Pellegrino, CEO of Fininvest.
The party's statement explains that "in a climate of great friendship and cordiality," Silvio Berlusconi's two eldest sons "renewed their trust" in the leader, and "a unified and shared vision for the relaunch emerged." The two hosts also reported a "very positive" meeting. But the discussions, informed parliamentary sources explain, were decidedly complex and frank, and several issues remained unresolved, including the congressional meeting. After several meetings at Marina's Milan residence, this time the meeting was held—in an expanded form—at the Mediaset offices, where Tajani arrived at 1:30 PM, followed by the Fininvest president half an hour later.
Beyond the "broad overview of the political, economic, and international situation," the discussion focuses on the party. For those surprised by Pellegrino's presence, insiders point out that the manager has been consistently present at the meetings held at the home of Berlusconi's eldest daughter. He is also said to be responsible for scouting ahead of the upcoming general elections, with resume collection already underway: the goal is to identify "new" and "reliable" faces. Within that framework, the Berlusconi family is calling for "a revolution" within the party. Marina and Pier Silvio reportedly reiterated this to the deputy prime minister.
The resulting suggestion is to delay the national congress and proceed with local ones only where there is agreement. This is not the case, for example, in Puglia, Sicily, Campania, and Lombardy, and even in Sardinia there is tension . The party's problems in the southern regions have reportedly also been addressed. Tajani has reportedly tried to hold firm on the congresses. Meanwhile, after replacing the group leader in the Senate, the next step is to repeat the process in the Chamber of Deputies. Some sources assure that Tajani has returned to Rome with Costa's name in his pocket, but has reportedly asked for time. He must at least proceed with a series of checks with the deputies. This possibility is already pushing some of them—especially those with doubts about Costa due to his double departure from FI, where he returned in 2024—to put a vote on the table. The risk of splitting the group with a cold replacement is one of the factors being carefully considered by party leaders.
According to those who claim the meeting didn't go very well, several names were considered (Giorgio Mulè, Deborah Bergamini, Pietro Pittalis, and Raffaele Nevi have been circulating for days), and, without an agreement, Letta was ultimately tasked with facilitating the search for a compromise. Barelli's future also remains unclear. His name has been circulating for days in the reshuffle of undersecretaries the government is preparing to approve. But it's not out of the question that another FI MP, Maurizio Casasco, could eventually be included in the mix, and that the current group leader could inherit his role as president of the parliamentary commission overseeing the tax registry. It's not a given that decisions on all these issues will be made imminently. As one prominent Forza Italia figure notes, these are decisions, especially those regarding congresses, that must also pass through the party's bodies; "they can't be made in Cologno and imposed from above."
(Unioneonline)
