Federica Picchi confirmed as member of the Lombardy Regional Council (after the no-confidence vote): "There's no reason to dismiss her."

Milan, 11 November 2025 – Federica Picchi remains on the Lombardy Regional Council, despite the Council's no-confidence vote . According to Mauro Piazza, the Lombardy undersecretary responsible for relations with the Regional Council, during today's session, President Attilio Fontana stated that " there are no grounds for dismissing the undersecretary ." He confirmed the undersecretary's mandate because he believes " there are no violations of institutional integrity or regional public health policies, as evidenced by the implementation and success of the vaccination campaign."

Federica Picchi, Undersecretary for Sport and Youth of Lombardy

Regarding the approval of the motion of censure against Undersecretary Federica Picchi, "President Fontana is always open to dialogue and discussion. We had a productive conversation with him, and we are convinced that, on his part too, the motion should be put to rest and we can move forward together." This was stated by Christian Garavaglia, leader of the Brothers of Italy group in the Regional Council , on the sidelines of the chamber's proceedings, reaffirming "our support for Undersecretary Federica Picchi. We trust she can continue with the work she has already undertaken." Regarding the need for clarification within the center-right, given that the motion passed with some majority votes, Garavaglia simply said that "there were some." When asked about Senate President Ignazio La Russa's comments, which complained about the use of a secret ballot, the group leader responded that "it's a bureaucratic and regulatory issue. Once the nature of the motion was decided, that was the path to take. In any case, it's an accident, and we're moving forward."

Protests in the classroom

However, center-left opposition councilors in Lombardy aren't having it, and during today's meeting, they held up signs calling for the resignation of the FdI undersecretary . "I find it truly incredible that President Fontana, after a majority of councilors, including center-right members, said 'Picchi resign,' confirmed the anti-vax undersecretary . I find this truly serious. Ultimately, Fontana is evidently being blackmailed by Arianna Meloni, I imagine, or by national representatives of the Brothers of Italy party," said Pierfrancesco Majorino, leader of the Democratic Party group in the Lombardy region.

"This is a very wrong move on the merits, because I believe the Lombardy Region cannot have people within it who deny the importance of vaccines and spread fake news. On the other hand, it's anti-democratic because the chamber made something very clear: the majority of councilors supported it through a fair vote, and in this case , the will of the majority of councilors is therefore being trampled upon ," Majorino added.

"President Fontana's confirmation of Undersecretary Picchi, following last week's vote by the Regional Council, not only lacks justification, which would be due in any case, but is disrespectful of the prerogatives of the Council, which by a large majority proposed to Fontana the removal of the anti-vax undersecretary," concluded AVS regional councilor Onorio Rosati.

The Regional Council had approved the motion of censure presented by the Democratic Party (PD) against Federica Picchi by 44 votes in favor and 23 against . Twenty-one center-right councilors, twenty-one snipers, had sent an unequivocal message to the Undersecretary of Sport in Attilio Fontana's government, appointed by the Brothers of Italy. A "yes" vote to the motion by the (seven) Forza Italia regional councilors in the chamber at the time of the vote was a foregone conclusion, according to rumors, but it's clear that there were also snipers within the ranks of the Brothers of Italy and the League.