On Monday, October 12, Matteo Salvini resigned as secretary of the Lega at the start of the Federal Council in via Bellerio, Milan (ANSA, Tgcom24, la Repubblica, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Sky TG24, Quotidiano Nazionale). The stated reason is a matter of the rules: to run at the extraordinary congress of October 24 and 25 he must first leave his post. La Repubblica writes that the move was urged by Calderoli. He asked for the deputy secretaries to be wiped out; the treasurer Alberto Di Rubba leads the party until the congress (caretaker leader for Tgcom24, commissioner for ANSA). He announced a political secretariat and an update of the symbol.
The Lega is a governing party and Salvini has led it for more than a decade. An extraordinary congress with the leadership put back in play shows how solid his position is after months of internal tension, with calls for resignation from Lombard party officials already in August (Il Post, La Notizia). The symbol and the political secretariat point to an attempt at a relaunch.
For voters and for government allies the question is whether the passage changes the Lega’s line and candidacies; for those watching politics from outside, it is a test of the coalition’s stability ahead of the next election season.
Those who defend the move see it as a step required by the rules: resigning and running again is the only way to legitimize the secretary before the party’s members.
Those who criticize it, like Il Post, speak of a “trick” to lock in the leadership, and Durigon, according to la Repubblica, fears two weeks without a leader.
One fact is certain: Salvini has left his post and the party has a caretaker leader. The rest is interpretation. We do not know whether there will be challengers or what the new symbol will look like. To watch: the makeup of the political secretariat, the candidacies at the congress and the words of the allies.
ANSA · Tgcom24 · la Repubblica · Il Fatto Quotidiano · Sky TG24 · Quotidiano Nazionale · Il Post · October 12, 2026
Salvini resigns as Lega secretary: “A necessary step to run again.” Treasurer Di Rubba leads the party until the congress
On Monday, at the start of the Federal Council, the leader left his post so that he can stand again at the extraordinary congress in Milan. He asked for the deputy secretaries to be cleared out and announced a political secretariat and a new symbol.
On Monday, October 12, Matteo Salvini announced his resignation as secretary of the Lega at the start of the Federal Council, the meeting of party leaders held in via Bellerio, in Milan (ANSA, Tgcom24, la Repubblica, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Sky TG24, Quotidiano Nazionale). The reason, he explained, is formal: to be able to stand at the Lega’s extraordinary congress, scheduled in Milan on October 24 and 25, the rules require him to leave the post first. “It is a necessary step to run again,” he said, according to ANSA. La Repubblica writes that the move was urged by Roberto Calderoli, according to whom it is a “step back necessary under the rules.”
Salvini also asked for the posts of the deputy secretaries to be wiped out (la Repubblica, Tgcom24). Until the congress the party will be led by the treasurer Alberto Di Rubba, whom Tgcom24 calls caretaker leader and ANSA commissioner. The outgoing secretary then announced that a political secretariat will be created and that the symbol will be updated: “The world is changing,” he said, quoted by Il Fatto Quotidiano, and again, according to ANSA, “proud of our roots, but we live in the present and prepare the future.” To those who will not be there, he added, “I am sorry for him.”
Inside the party not everyone is enthusiastic. According to la Repubblica, the party official Durigon reportedly asked: “So we spend fifteen days without a leader?” Il Fatto Quotidiano speaks of mass resignations on the executive board and of an internal settling of scores in the Carroccio, while Il Post describes them as formal resignations that are “a trick”: a judgment by the newspaper, not an established fact. Il Post and La Notizia had already reported in August on calls for a step back from Lombard party officials, worried about the party’s fall in the polls.
What do we not know? In the texts we have read there are no candidates alternative to Salvini and no details of the new symbol, and no source explains how the political secretariat will be made up. Two weeks remain until the congress: these are the days in which we will see whether the Lega really wants to turn the page or whether, as critics claim, the gesture only serves to lock in the leadership. DailyDrop follows today’s developments.