Extraordinary Congress of the League, Salvini challenges Garavaglia for the secretariat. Voting on Sunday

One weekend, 705 delegates and two candidates for the secretariat of the League. Just over a month after the unexpected move of Matteo Salviniwhich launched the extraordinary assembly from the stage of the ‘pratone’ of Pontida, the party of Via Bellerio returns to the congress, which will have as its slogan the claim ‘Of struggle and government’because – the party says – “the League claims the results obtained in the institutions: where it governs, it governs well. Of struggle, because there are still many battles to carry forward, without retreating, in Italy and in Europe”.

The challenge between Salvini and Garavaglia

A year and a half after Salvini’s confirmation as leader – in April 2025 in Florence – the former Minister of Tourism will challenge the deputy prime minister Massimo Garavagliawho at the last minute reached the quota of 80 signatures necessary to stand as a candidate.

“I return to the congress to ask if I have the trust of my family, am I willing to offer my life for my children and for you“, Salvini said on 20 September, during his speech at the conclusion of the historic Northern League rally.

And so, the ‘second half’ of the secretary’s challenge to the ‘northern’ front will be played today and tomorrow in Milan, at the Allianz MiCo conference centre.

The two-day program

According to what is filtering through, the schedule of the two days is not yet defined, but this Saturday should be dedicated to the motions presented and the interventions of the various delegates who have signed up to speak, among which there should be the governors of the Northern regions and the ‘critics’ of Salvini’s line.

On Sunday, however, starting from the morning and continuing until early afternoon, the final rush is expected with speeches by Salvini and Garavaglia, then the election of the new secretary by secret ballot.

The crux of voting methods

Precisely the voting methods for choosing the new leader have been at the center of Garavaglia’s remarks in the last few hours.

The challenger, speaking on Sky Tg24, said he was in favor of voting with the booth open “to avoid embarrassing backstories“, Why “It is in everyone’s interest to avoid doubts or annoying and controversial issues“.

The delegates of the former Minister of Tourism, with the booth open, would like to avoid anyone taking a photograph of the card, to demonstrate for whom they expressed their preference.

“I had to find the few who weren’t asked to sign, it’s mathematically complicated, that’s why there is a limit to the number of signatures that can be collected, 120. I don’t know how many were collected… This is another question but I’m not interested in being controversial“, is the reference to the question on the number of signatures collected by the deputy prime minister.

As regards the voting methods and the request for an ‘open’ booth, sources close to Salvini respond by cutting it short: “Open vote no, secret vote yes, but not too much…“.

The back and forth on the contacts between the two candidates

Yesterday there was also a back-and-forth between the outgoing secretary and Garavaglia regarding the contacts between the two.

To the objection of the former minister, who claimed that he had not been able to contact Salvini, the deputy prime minister replied by explaining that he had called him “for more than a quarter of an hour three days ago“, saying “amazed” from his sentences.

Fontana president of the assembly

The meeting, which will have the task of electing the leader, launching the political secretariat and changing the symbol, will be presided over by the President of the Chamber Lorenzo Fontana and will also approve, by an absolute majority with an open vote by show of hands, any amendments and policy documents, signed by at least 80 congressmen registered in at least 4 regions and deposited at least 72 hours before the first call.