Alberto Stefani, the new president of Veneto’s Northern League, started his mandate at a very disadvantageous position compared to Luca Zaia, who has been Veneto’s president for the last 15 years: from the start, in fact, Stefani had to deal with the very precarious balance of a divided coalition, and especially with the claims of the Brothers of Italy who once again did very well in a region of the Northern League that was historically in a very bad position.
In Veneto, the dispute between the League and the Italian Brotherhood was no mystery. Indeed, in some cases, they are displayed dramatically. Last Tuesday, when Alberto Stefani was invited to speak on stage to close the right-wing election campaign, many flags remained lowered: the League’s flag was flying as usual, almost all the Brothers of Italy’s flags were not. The same thing happened when Luca Zaia appeared on the podium. Only Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s intervention got everyone on board.
These problems are the result of poorly digested compromises by the leadership of the Italian Brotherhood in Venice, which for months has claimed the right to nominate presidential candidates in regional elections. This request was determined by the results of the last election, in which the Muslim Brotherhood received more support than the League. In last year’s European elections, for example, Veneto got 37.6%, while the League only got 13.1%.
The name of the Italian Brotherhood’s presidential candidate was already there – regional coordinator Luca De Carlo – but internal discussions on the right were prolonged first by the League’s attempts to give a further mandate to the regional president, then by waiting for the results of the Marche elections. Only after Francesco Acquaroli’s reconfirmation in the Marche did Italian Brotherhood exponent Giorgia Meloni allow the League to continue to rule in Veneto, allowing the logic of national collaboration to triumph over local expectations. De Carlo at least in the interview seemed to respond with sportsmanship: «Our generosity is extraordinary, because those who have a role in the party must first know how to keep the coalition together».
Unable to nominate Luca Zaia again, the League chose Alberto Stefani, who was talked about during the election campaign mainly because of his age: at 33 he became Italy’s youngest regional president. Young, it is true, but already has some experience in politics: at the age of 22 he was elected as a member of the municipal council in Borgoricco, in the province of Padua, in 2018 at the age of only 25 he was elected to the DPR, a year later he became mayor of Borgoricco and finally at the last political elections in 2022 he was reconfirmed as deputy. In 2023 he became secretary of the League of Venice and in 2024 deputy federal secretary of the League. Among other things, he was also president of the bicameral commission on federalism, which was very dear to the League.
Throughout the election campaign, he presented himself – at least in words – as Zaia’s successor candidate. He promised to reduce waiting lists for tests and visits by recruiting new doctors and nurses and investing in local health services to ease hospital workloads. He also proposed a “house plan” to help young couples. As Zaia has done in the last 15 years, Stefani also expressed the need to obtain greater autonomy from the central state.
Deliberations on the composition of the board will begin in the next few hours. Before the vote, Fratelli d’Italia predicted there would be some very important sectors, but a very good result could complicate matters further. In early November De Carlo had declared the departments of Health, Budget, Training and Employment, Agriculture, Hunting and Fisheries, Transport and Public Works as specific departments. “We will compete for other delegates with the commission presidency,” he said. “We believe that we can add a little passion to political action: we can do more and better. We are the first party and we will also be the first party, with great enthusiasm.”
Stefani also had to face the League’s internal problems, namely the impractical role of Luca Zaia, the main candidate in all provinces. The Fratelli d’Italia has approved Stefani’s candidacy and asked the League not to give Zaia the opportunity to present its own list that includes her name on the symbol. For Zaia, this is a way to continue to demonstrate his consensus, elect regional council members close to him, and maintain influence in Venetian politics.
However, in this way, Zaia would also take votes from the League and especially from the Fratelli d’Italia, thereby reducing their negotiating power. “If it is a problem, I will try to make the problem real. I will try to organize myself in such a way as to fully represent Venice. Of course there is still time to decide what and how,” Zaia said at the start of the election campaign.
In recent weeks, various hypotheses have circulated regarding Zaia’s political future: some say that she would be a right-wing candidate in the municipal elections in Venice, others say that she would be suitable to be president of Eni, others say that she would be suitable as a minister or that she could replace Stefani in Parliament. For the Liga and Stefani, this will be especially problematic if he remains in Veneto as a member of the regional council.
