Gasparri left his post as Forza Italia group leader in the Senate. Stefania Craxi took his place. The resignation follows a letter in which 14 senators of the party asked for her replacement. Mattarella signed the appointment for the premier in place of Santanchè
New shake-up in the ranks of the majority. Less than 24 hours after Daniela Santanchè 's resignation as Minister of Tourism, on Thursday Maurizio Gasparri, the fourth to resign in just three days since the defeat of the Yes vote in the referendum on justice, also left his post.
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Taking his place as leader of the Forza Italia (FI) group in the Senate will be Stefania Craxi, currently president of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
"To Stefania Craxi, the new president of the Forza Italia group in the Senate, I send my best wishes for a good job," FI national secretary and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote shortly afterwards, thanking Gasparri for her work in a post on X.
"I have autonomously decided to leave my position as Forza Italia group leader in the Senate. Those who have a long track record based on solidity and a sense of duty, and not only on the office they hold, know how to manage times and ways in complex moments. Forward with consistency and looking to the future,' Gasparri said.
The announcement of the resignation of the former FI group leader, who declared that he had taken the decision autonomously, comes after a letter signed by 14 of the party's senators, out of a total of 20, requesting his replacement.
According to FI parliamentary sources told Ansa, Gasparri was given around 48 hours to manage the exit strategy. In particular, the move may have been influenced by the wishes of Marina Berlusconi, eldest daughter of the party's founder, Silvio Berlusconi, who died in 2023, and whose company offices she has so far inherited but not officially a political role.
The majority's defeat in the referendum and the chain resignation: criticism from the opposition
The defeat of the Yes vote in the referendum on justice has triggered a chain mechanism in the government majority, which on the one hand seems to want to show that it has accepted the strong signal that came from the ballot box, and on the other to want to avoid an executive crisis at all costs.
In the past few days, Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove, the undersecretary for Justice (of Fratelli d'Italia), whose business dealings with a front man for the Senese clan have aroused widespread controversy, and Giusi Bartolozzi (FI), the head of the cabinet of Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, have resigned.
Commenting on Gasparri's resignation, Green and Left Alliance deputy Angelo Bonelli spoke of a 'political crisis in the centre-right', which with the resignations 'of Bartolozzi, Delmastro, Santanchè and today Gasparri - and tomorrow who knows who - imposes an acceleration in the definition of the centre-left's programme'.
"The right wing governing Italy has exceeded the limit of hypocrisy**: if the No vote had not won, from Santanchè to Delmastro they would all have remained in their places,"** Bonelli criticised, adding that "Italy risks going into economic recession, also because of the war and the crazy energy policy wanted by Giorgia Meloni" and that for these reasons "it is necessary to accelerate with determination the construction of a credible alternative, capable of offering the country a different perspective".
Meloni takes over Tourism Ministry ad interim
On Thursday evening, the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, signed the decree accepting the resignation presented by the Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanchè. In the same decree, the head of state entrusted the ministry to the prime minister at the proposal of Giorgia Meloni herself.
The appointment is temporary, the Quirinal announced. In a note, the government said that Meloni and Mattarella had a telephone conversation and that Santanchè "has worked with great dedication and ensured her contribution to the recovery and relaunch of Italian tourism".