He wants “new faces, new ideas, a renewed program”. No, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, once again, is not talking about Mediaset, but about another family “creature”: Forza Italia. Antonio Tajani has little audience, ratings are languishing, there is a need for a refresh, with “values ​​suited to current and changing times”. The person who would send “The Wheel of Fortune”, a 1987 program, broadcast 366 (!) days a year, is asking for it. Tajanifor the umpteenth time, is forced to draft the jab that came from the royal house.

By now Berlusconi junior inviting the press at Christmas to Cologno Monzese, to report on the state of the art, is a more traditional event than “An armchair for two” broadcast by Italia Uno on the eve. On the other hand, “Dudi” acquired ProsiebenSat.1 in Germany and also a share of “Impresa” in Portugal. The project of a “pan-European” Mediaset has really taken off: he is a television mogul on an international scale, but with a family behind him that is more united than Rupert Murdoch.

A party that is anything but fresh

The blues, however, these are. If you look at the cast, the party on the renewal front has almost nothing to offer. There is Simone Leoni, 25 years old, youth coordinator, who already survived an ambush by “Tempo” after his rant about General Vannacci. Then, skipping over 35-year-old Marta Fascina – a ghost in the Chamber -, we arrive at 46-year-old Alessandro Cattaneo, never chosen for a prominent role.

There are no new faces on the horizon. The group leader in the Chamber is Paolo Barelli, the 71-year-old who often appears in the “sandwiches” of the news. In the Senate, the leader is still Maurizio Gasparri, 69 years old in his ninth (!) legislature, in his 457th television fight and close to two thousand arguments on “X”. Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati shares the words of Berlusconi jr, from the height of his 79 years, seasoned with seven legislatures. Fi is the most gerontocratic party in the centre-right: think of the inclusion of figures such as Adriano Galliani or Claudio Lotito, Rita Dalla Chiesa or Stefania Craxi.

Castings would be needed

As we know, one fact has always had an impact on this: the last word on the lists belonged to Silvio Berlusconi. But, at the last European elections, when the great leader was no longer there, the situation did not change much: Letizia Moratti leads a patrol of non-first-time elected officials in Brussels and Strasbourg. Now, for a possible “after Tajani”, the name of Roberto Occhiuto, recently re-elected president of the Calabria Region, is circulating. He is one of the four deputies: the others are Deborah Bergamini, Stefano Benigni, Alberto Cirio. Indistinguishable figures for voters (except for the two regional presidents in their respective territories, obviously). More Publitalia castings are urgently needed, as in 1993-1994.

Forza Italia, meanwhile, could and should emancipate itself (also economically) from the Berlusconi family, especially if the latter has no intention of engaging in politics directly. But are they running – Marina and Pier Silvio – or are they not running? This time, he seems to have prefigured a definitive “no”: he will not follow in his father’s footsteps in this sector too. Also because, if he already suffers from the caricatural imitation of Ubaldo Pantani, imagine what he could face if he took to the pitch.

“The best prime minister in Europe”

Pier Silvio, however, is very clever and, when talking about politics, he makes a rather significant statement: «Meloni is the best prime minister in Europe». Boom! Devil of a man: not being able to make comparisons, for obvious reasons, with the Italian prime ministers of the past, he compared her with the other leaders of the continent. Good move, while behind the scenes (as “Il Fatto Quotidiano” tells us) Fi is stepping on toes with the League, which would like to give more support to local TV stations, its competitors, after the brawls with the economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti over the contributions requested from the banks (including the family’s Mediolanum).

In short, Fi needs new faces and programmes, the Mediaset of “Striscia la Notizia” – the aforementioned “Wheel of Fortune”, “Le Iene”, “Verissimo”, “Grande Fratello”, “Zelig”, “Who wants to be a millionaire” – doesn’t need them. Pier Silvio perhaps would like to resolve it like this: via Tajani, inside one of Paolo Bonolis or Gerry Scotti, waiting for Samira Lui – the co-host of the Wheel – to learn her skills. Samira would be perfect: a family story with an impact like that of Meloni, but she comes from the deep productive North of Massimiliano Fedriga and not from Garbatella. So, an eternal thank you to Tajani and forward with Samira’s motion.