Salvini finds his 'people' in Pontida

Matteo Salvini meets his people in Pontida and calls them to participate. “Here is the Italy that will win,” the League leader repeatedly proclaimed from the stage of the historic rally in the Bergamo valleys, the most crowded in recent years, asking the militants to take an active part in this path of “reconstruction”. The tools the League secretary is thinking of are those of popular participation through the referendum (to eliminate the proportional part of the Rosatelum bis, announced yesterday, and on the security law in case the new PD-M5S majority wants to modify it) and the action of mayors and local administrators on the territory: the "government of the people against the government of the palace", "the real Italy against the little Italy of games and palaces". But Pontida 2019 is also the gathering of anger. There is such a crowd of activists crowding the lawn that chants against Giuseppe Conte, the "buffoon", and boos break out several times when Luigi Di Maio is mentioned. The Northern League also takes very heavy aim at journalists. First, early in the morning, the videomaker of 'Repubblica', Antonio Nasso, whose camera is punched by a militant, apparently for no reason, while Nasso is conducting interviews under the stage. Then, around 10, the lawn is 'shaken' by the arrival of Gad Lerner, accredited to document the rally for 'Repubblica'. The militants welcomed him with very harsh insults – 'sell-out', 'piece of shit', 'go home' – and chased him to the press gazebo, where, protected by barriers, he was forced to take refuge, accompanied by Salvini's spokesman, Matteo Pandini. He will have to stay there for most of his stay at the event, although he will then stop for a clarification with some young activists, but there will be barriers on board. It should be noted that the only one to condemn the insults to journalists from the stage was Luca Zaia. “I thank the journalists for their presence. No, guys, it doesn't work like that here: hospitality is sacred,” the Veneto governor will say. It's not just the 'moderate' Zaia (who gets boos when he cites Giorgio Napolitano's pronouncements in favor of autonomy) who calms the 'square' but also Salvini himself. The Lega Nord 'captain' who, speaking to journalists, had been very harsh with Di Maio, speaking of the "sad end" of the "traitors who, in order not to disappear, go with hat in hand to look for a few votes in the PD offices" in Umbria, went up on stage, instead evoking "patience", a "heroic" virtue, as - remember - Giacomo Leopardi supported. And, speaking of the political leader of the M5S, he calls him “friend” again, because “even if we change sides, I don’t change,” he says. To carry forward his "peaceful revolution for the liberation of the country," Salvini then promises to profess the "evangelical creed of praying for our adversaries, whose children and grandchildren will one day thank those madmen in the League" who "offer a 'smile' to those who betrayed them.  How to get to win again? Salvini's recipe is to "open the doors of the League, embrace, expand" to Italians of "good will" who are "disgusted by the betrayal of those who sold their dignity in exchange for a seat". And the next appointment is for the demonstration against the Conte II government, scheduled for October 19 in Rome, “a day of national pride”, which, in the intentions of the Lega member, should also mark “the debut of the new way of doing politics that goes beyond the old coalition acronyms”. When questioned by journalists, Salvini distances himself from the young deputy of Bussolengo, Vito Comencini, who yesterday insulted Sergio Mattarella (“He disgusts me”, he said at the assembly of the Young League). “The tone may be wrong… we must always show respect,” comments the League secretary. “Choices have certainly been made that do not correspond to the popular will in recent weeks, but I do not use insults and I propose a change to Italians.” In his speech, Salvini dusts off many of his warhorses: the policy on migrants because Italy with the new government risks becoming the "refugee camp of Europe", the flat tax, which "will be the first measure when the League returns to government", and the "Christian roots of the EU, of which we are the only defenders", he claims. The former Interior Minister then thanks the police and pays homage to Judge Rosario Livatino for his phrases against magistrates and judges who enter politics. In addition to Lavatino, the quotes are a bit like those already heard in the 'Salvini' repertoire: Oriana Fallaci, John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher and even Enzo Ferrari. Salvini, who had made his debut by going on stage to the tune of 'Vincero' from 'Nessun dorma', concluded his speech by having the children present go up next to him. Among them is also Greta di Bibbiano, he reveals, a “girl with red hair who after a year was returned to her mother”. “No more children stolen from mum and dad, no more children used as merchandise,” he demands. And the notes of “La liberta'” by Giorgio Gaber begin. Once the rally was over, Salvini stopped to eat at one of the food stands. The organizers speak of Pontida having a “record” attendance but do not provide official data, even if the estimate made by the Bergamo police headquarters is more than 45 thousand participants. It is certainly the most crowded gathering in recent years. The 'old' militants remember only one gathering with more participation, that of 1994 when Umberto Bossi launched the ultimatum to Silvio Berlusconi threatening to leave the government (which he would then bring down shortly thereafter). A large representation of the Northern League administrators on the stage. In addition to the governors Zaia, Attilio Fontana, Massimiliano Fedriga, the Sardinian Christian Solinas and the group leaders in the Chamber and the Senate, Massimiliano Romeo and Riccardo Molinari, for the first time a large group of mayors from all over Italy are given the floor: Vincenzo Catapano of San Giuseppe Vesuviano, Anastasio Carra' of Motta Sant'Anastasia, Mario Guarente of Potenza, Mario Conte of Treviso, Leonardo Latini of Terni, Alessandro Canelli of Novara, and Michele Corti of Pisa. There's also room for the two Northern League candidates in the upcoming regional elections, Lucia Borgonzoni and Donatella Tesei, to whom Salvini has entrusted the challenge of "liberating" Emilia Romagna and Umbria.