Licio Gelli and the Referendum: Why the Venerable Master's Ghost Continues to Divide Italy

Anyone familiar with the corridors of power in Rome knows this well: there are ghosts that never truly leave. And among them, the most cumbersome, the most elegant, the most elusive, remains him: Licio Gelli. The Venerable Master of the P2 Lodge is not just a closed chapter of national history tucked away in textbooks. Today, in March 2026, just days away from the justice referendum, his name has once again become a wild card in public debate. And not for posthumous celebrations, but for an uncomfortable truth: the Democratic Renewal Plan, that document which dreamed of rewriting the rules of the State, seems to have become, for many, a prophecy.

The Son, the Minister, and the "Copyright" of History

It all restarted with an interview that did the rounds on talk shows. Maurizio Gelli, Licio's son, with a calmness that sent a chill down many spines, explained that his father would have looked with extreme favour upon the current reform of the judiciary. "My father was far-sighted," he declared, sparking the ire of the No camp. Marco Travaglio, in his presentations, was blunt: this is a reform whose "noble father" is precisely the Venerable Master. And Giuseppe Conte, now accustomed to wielding the populist stamp, upped the ante by talking about Licio Gelli's "copyright" over the entire referendum framework.

But the issue is more subtle than a simple name-drop. Because on the other side, Minister Carlo Nordio, with the phlegm of a Venetian inquisitor, had already retorted sharply: if an idea is right, it doesn't matter who thought of it first. "I don't see why we shouldn't follow a correct opinion just because he expressed it," he repeated on several occasions, causing an uproar. And here's the rub. Because while it's true that the separation of magistrates' careers was indeed a point in the Plan, anyone who has read that document knows it was embedded in a very different context: public prosecutors were to be placed under the executive, and the CSM (High Council of the Judiciary) was to answer to Parliament. A not-insignificant difference, yet one that gets systematically swept away in the vortex of political polemic.

The Toxic Legacy of an Anniversary

We live in a strange period, where anniversaries pile up. These weeks, there's much talk about Anniversaries: Licio Gelli's Italy, almost as if trying to come to terms with a country that no longer exists. But the truth is, Gelli's Italy – the one of covert plots, rogue intelligence agencies, and fixers – never really disappeared. It just evolved. Today, while the centre-left tears its hair out evoking the spectre of P2 to block the vote, there are those, like the League's frontman in Castelfiorentino, who invite us to stick to the merits, avoiding "ideological positions."

Yet, the Venerable Master's shadow is so long that even Nino Di Matteo, during a rally, had to admit the game is dirty: "The mafiosi will vote Yes," he said, causing an uproar, but adding they will do so because they feel legitimised by those who want to put a leash on magistrates. Strong words, which led the Quirinal (President's office) to invite everyone to lower the tone. But by now, the omelette is made. The referendum is no longer just about justice: it's a referendum on who has the right to tell the story of this country.

The Business Behind the Myth

And here we get to the point that interests us analysts the most. Outside the courtrooms and talk shows, there's a buzzing market. Sales of essays analysing the phenomenon, like those from the series Myths in Poetry - Licio Gelli - Laterza Giuseppe Edizioni, are literally exploding. Gelli's figure, now widely accepted as the archetype of "shadow power," sells. It sells books, it sells investigations, it sells clicks. And it also sells a certain idea of ​​prosecutorial populism which, paradoxically, fuels both sides.

For those investing in political communication, the lesson is clear:

• Symbolic narrative beats technicalities: evoking Gelli or P2 triggers an immediate emotional response that no data on trial speed could ever match.
• Polarisation is an annuity: the harsher the clash, the more advertising space and newspaper subscriptions are sold. The "Gelli case" is the perfect mudslinging machine, but it's also the perfect cash machine.
• Short memory is an asset: few remember the details of the Democratic Renewal Plan, but everyone remembers the word "P2." That's enough to sway votes and create factions.

Looking beyond next Sunday's vote, I expect that, regardless of the outcome, this referendum round will mark a turning point. For the first time in decades, the ghost of Licio Gelli has been invoked not as an archaeological relic, but as an active protagonist in the political debate. Whether Yes or No wins, whether the right or left wins, one thing is certain: the Venerable Master, from his exile in South America first, and then from the grave, has won his most important battle: still being, years later, the needle on the scale of Italian public debate. And in a country that never truly comes to terms with its past, that, for heaven's sake, is hardly news.