"Use clientelistic systems for the Yes campaign," storm over the FdI deputy

One week before the justice referendum, the political contest abandons the substance and slips into mobilization methods and the use of words.

On the evening of March 15, 2026, in the municipal hall of the Palazzo Regina Elena in Genzano di Lucania (Potenza), a meeting in support of the Yes turned into a national political case.

What happened is shameful, Hon. Aldo Mattia (FdI) asks patriots to use clientelist methods to obtain votes for the yes in the referendum. They should wash their mouths out when they talk about Falcone and Borsellino while having these subjects within them. #IoVotoNO pic.twitter.com/UJEhZlQNGD

— Aldo Sciara (@AldoSciara) March 15, 2026

The protagonist is Aldo Mattia, a Lucanian deputy elected with Brothers of Italy. In a video released on March 16 by the Corriere del Mezzogiorno, the parliamentarian urges those present to resort to any means necessary to prevail in the consultation on March 22 and 23. The phrase that sparked outrage is clear: “If necessary, use the usual clientelist system”.

In the footage, the invitation is clarified with examples that recall practices of favor exchange: “you are my cousin… I did you this favor… help me”. An expressive choice that, in fact, ends up legitimizing improper behaviors, eroding the principle of equality and polluting the free expression of the vote.

The slip-up was not limited to methods of gathering consensus. During the same rally, Mattia attacked the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, calling her “unpleasant, ugly, and communist”: a personal attack that intertwines esthetic stigma, sexism, and an ideological label used as a defamatory mark, a sign of how invective is replacing reasoned debate.

The episode bursts into an already tense and polarized context. Voters are called to express their opinion on the so-called "Nordio Reform", a constitutional revision under Article 138 (thus without a quorum), which provides for a clear separation of careers between judges and public prosecutors, the splitting of the Superior Council of the Judiciary with the introduction of lottery-based selections, and the establishment of a High Disciplinary Court. Proponents of the Yes campaign present the reform as a bulwark against currents and power plays; the committees for the No, supported by associations and unions, instead warn of the risk of undermining the independence of the judiciary.

Mattia's words now threaten to overshadow the debate on the merits, turning the consultation into a political showdown. This is not the first communication short circuit of this campaign: the deputy's statement follows other controversies, such as the remarks attributed to the Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, who allegedly referred to the CSM as a "paramafioso system", and those of his chief of staff, Giusi Bartolozzi, who stated that "with the Yes we are getting rid of the judiciary". In an atmosphere where the referendum is perceived by many observers as a crucial test for the stability of the majority led by Giorgia Meloni, the "Mattia case" fuels the rhetoric of both sides: the opposition uses it to strengthen the narrative of an executive hostile to the judiciary, while the majority denounces disinformation campaigns.

With the polls now approaching, it remains to be seen whether this escalation will primarily affect abstentionism or the genuine democratic participation of the country.