The “parentism” of which the opposition accuses the government is actually in their DNA: the Dem and Grilline couples who share a roof and seats are very popular in the Chamber
They could place the gifts directly under the Christmas tree, a magnificent spruce that arrived in the Chamber of Deputies from the “certified” forests of the Cuneo area. And they could only be with the guarantee sticker. Nicola Fratoianni, Dario Franceschini, Gilda Sportiello could place the heartbeat watches, the cards for a weekend in the spa, the jumpers with reindeer, wrapped and decorated with bows for wives and husbands directly there. Francesco Boccia no, because his partner Nunzia De Girolamo was not re-elected. Montecitorio as the hearth, the Chamber as the mother’s dining room, where the “tengo famiglia” (Leo Longanesi dixit) of the third millennium is broadcast.
Since the editorial team’s favorite sport is to be indignant at the absolute government relationship (Giorgia Meloni, prime minister, and her ex-brother-in-law Francesco Lollobrigida, minister) it is worth taking a closer look at the group photo, using the eighth-grade microscope to discover how deeply the Chamber and Senate are conditioned by left-wing friendships, which over the years and legislatures has transformed into an overflowing extended family. The vice has a founding act: the historic liaison of Palmiro Togliatti, plenipotentiary of the PCI with direct access to the Stalinist CPSU, with Nilde Iotti, the former Emilian partisan who ascended to the presidency of the Chamber in 1979 and remained there until 1993 in spite of the upheavals. Twelve years and 307 days, the true historical compromise with the DC, a record comparable to that of Bob Beamon in the long jump, where “democratic alternation” concerned only the others.
That was not a coincidence but a trend, given that Giancarlo Pajetta was also a long-time life and party companion of the communist journalist Miriam Mafai, one of the founders of La Repubblica, who inherited her seat in Montecitorio in 1994. He had the eighth grade, but even the course of studies becomes a discriminating factor only when it concerns those who do not sing Bella Ciao. The example was followed over time by other famous couples: Monica Cirinnà and Esterino Montino, Anna Serafini and her husband Piero Fassino, Anna Maria Carloni in Bassolino. The relatives’ club has always been a strong point of the Democratic Party. And there isn’t a fold-up seat that doesn’t interest you. In the absence of anything else, Michele Emiliano in Puglia has appointed his partner Elena Laterza as spokesperson. «A choice compliant with the rules of law and based on an impeccable curriculum». No one dares to say a word about the opportunity.
Even today parentism is well represented, with the spearhead Michela Di Biase, wife (since 2014) of the cattodem leader Dario Franceschini, a great floater in the Sargasso Sea of power. Having entered Parliament in 2022, she took the elevator and in three years became group leader in the Childhood and Adolescence Committee as well as a member of the Justice Committee. No one is more against the separation of careers than her, in every sense. And when the arrangement is pointed out to her, she becomes offended. He talks about his apprenticeship in the city council at the Campidoglio, he talks again about his apprenticeship as a regional councilor of Lazio with Nicola Zingaretti. To paraphrase Antonello Venditti, from apprentice to apprentice we will arrive in Rome. And indeed, here is Montecitorio. Di Biase doesn’t agree: «The brand is profoundly unfair and the result of a chauvinist culture that wants to talk about women not through their work, their story, but through the man next to them».
The inclination is also a winner for the tax return. Two years ago Lady Franceschini was at the center of two controversies. The first for the 25 percent stake in the company Objective Cinque, which sells consultancy on achieving gender equality. When political ideals coincide with business. The second for having been in the Sorgente foundation, whose holding manages the real estate assets of the Siae (Italian Society of Authors and Publishers), supervised by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, for eight years her husband’s sanctuary. The fuss was raised by Fedez who accused the couple of conflict of interest amid controversy and threats of lawsuits. The inclination is winning and also contagious. In the sense that if you look a little further to the left, here is another winning family, with a succulent double salary that allows you to work at Tesla. It is the one made up of Nicola Fratoianni, leader of the Italian Left and the Alleanza Verdi Sinistra, and his wife Elisabetta Piccolotti, former communist Rifondazione, deputy of the same party and now a member of the Culture Commission and the Anti-Mafia Commission. The lady in red rose to prominence for the controversy over the purchase of Elon Musk’s car, sold with extreme reluctance when the digital billionaire became Donald Trump’s advisor. Someone pointed out to her that the battle for her husband’s assets didn’t go well with a 50,000 euro car, accusing her of left-wing pussyism. “I chose it because it is an electric car, consistent with our ecological policies.” The Dacia Spring and the Leapmotor are also electric, but do you want to put the cool side of things?
Last week Piccolotti did it again, defending the Christmas carol in Arabic in a school in Milan and justifying the kidnapping of the children from the house in the woods because “they don’t know Italian”. Without worrying about the detail that a good share of their immigrant peers are in the same conditions.
To be consistent with the broad field, the parliamentary “I keep family” also concerns the 5 Star Movement, with the relationship between the smoking group leader in Montecitorio, Riccardo Ricciardi, and the deputy Gilda Sportiello. She is remembered only for a photo also published in the Washington Post, which depicted her in the Chamber while breastfeeding little Federico, born from their union. Grillism has always rhymed with familism. Not so much because Beppe tried in vain to get his accountant elected nor because Davide Buffagni, brother of the former deputy minister Stefano, failed in his latest bid for Parliament. But for the paradigmatic story of the Latina nurse and her son. Ivana Simeoni, a health worker put on the list due to a lack of candidates, entered the Senate in 2013 with the first five-star wave and brought with her her son Cristian Iannuzzi, who was elected deputy. After a year they realized they were part of the herd of oxen and left in the mixed group, leaving everything behind except their pension.
In the name of the father and uncle, another turn, another chapter. The Trout syndrome (Renzo, Umberto Bossi’s son, ed.), involves everyone. Because «The Constitution does not prohibit it», as political professionals repeat. In fact, it doesn’t even prohibit a double presidential mandate, and in fact Sergio Mattarella has slipped into the vulnus. So it is difficult to blame Giovanni Crosetto, Fdi MEP and nephew of Minister Guido, without remembering that even in this section the ironclad tradition of the left continues to dominate. In the recent past Simone Valiante (Pd) took the place of his father Antonio in the Chamber and Daniela Cardinale that of his parent Totò, superminister in the government of Massimo D’Alema. The father had reached the maximum number of parliamentary mandates and, not wanting to give the college away to strangers, he handed it over to his daughter, then a university student.
Shining examples of comédie humaine, Honoré de Balzac would say, which inspired Vincenzo De Luca. Leaving the throne of the Campania Region due to the divestment of the caciques wanted by Elly Schlein, the Sheriff demanded that his son Piero (already a deputy and deputy leader of the Dem in the Chamber) become regional secretary of the party. And the voters? No problem, he was presented in the primaries as the sole candidate. Things went decidedly worse for Pellegrino Mastella, son of another Bourbon viceroy of politics who entered the regional council thanks to the beaten troops of the evergreen Clemente, a great voter of Roberto Fico. The new governor immediately excluded the scion from the council. “If I had known I wouldn’t have nominated him, so we’re off to a bad start,” commented the parent. Families cannot be disappointed, especially at Christmas.
