Cagliari
Presentation in the regional council
The figure of Luigi Cogodi, for over 40 years among the protagonists of the Sardinian political scene, was at the center of a crowded meeting this morning held in the Transatlantic room of the Regional Council in Cagliari and dedicated to the book “Luigi Cogodi, il verde + rosso”, published by Janus editore, edited by Alberto Sechi (one of Cogodi’s closest collaborators) with an introduction by Massimo Dadea and an afterword by Giulio Angioni.
The publication offers a long interview conducted by Sechi in 2011, on the eve of an imminent electoral deadline, focused on the themes of the environment, work, self-government and rebirth. “This writing was not published due to the onset of a long crisis, not only physical, which distanced Luigi from politics – said Alberto Sechi – today we thought the time had come for publication, not only for the occasion of the 80th anniversary of his birth but also because Sardinia is going through a similar climate to that of 10 years ago with the left in government again”. A decision shared by the family: “My father did not like commemorations – said his son Elia – this book is however the confirmation that things done still have a meaning. Politics has filled all the spaces and even the air of family life. Lunches were the occasion for endless discussions. My father’s sense of justice, his attention to the least fortunate, his belief in an alternative social model convinced me that, contrary to what some people said, it is not true that something straight can never be born from crooked wood.”
Politics, therefore, as an all-encompassing passion of Cogodi’s entire existence. It is no coincidence that for the first presentation of the volume, the choice fell on the Regional Council, his main political home that saw him hold the office of councilor for 4 legislatures (from 1979 to 2004 with only one interruption between 1994 and 1999): “Everyone here remembers him – said the Prime Minister Piero Comandini – the “red” who made noise, a politician who left an important mark with his laws on urban planning and labor policies. far-sighted measures that are still relevant. Today, in this politics, there is a need for people like him”.
A thought shared by the regional councilor for Culture Ilaria Portas: “I am honored to be here as a member of the Council and a woman of the left – she said – it is important today to know her political path. An example that can help our generation to make new revolutions. From her teaching we can take inspiration to start a new Congress of the Sardinian people and make a service to our autonomy”.
The mayor of Cagliari Massimo Zedda recalled his first meeting with Cogodi when he was still a child: “I met him with my father right here in the Council – said Zedda – then I met him again as an adult. He was a great supporter of mine, together with Gianluigi Gessa, in my first electoral campaign for the Municipality of Cagliari. His battles on the front of work and the environment are always current: it is thanks to him and his contribution as a city councilor in the 70s that today Cagliari can enjoy environmental protections within the city such as the parks of San Michele and Monte Claro”.
Massimo Dadea (former councilor for General Affairs in the Soru Council), who was Cogodi’s party colleague in the PCI, underlined the relevance of Cogodi’s thought “capable of seeing far and, very often, before others”. “Luigi was disappointed by how Autonomy was achieved – said Dadea – understood as a mere economic claim and little attention to the issue of the exercise of the powers provided for by the Statute. Today his lesson can be useful, his fight against the concreting of the coasts represents a model for fighting the speculations underway on the renewable energy front”. To collect Cogodi’s legacy, according to Dadea, a new constituent phase is needed that focuses on two interventions: an electoral statutory law that eliminates the current anti-democratic system and the rewriting of the Statute. “For this, however, a strong action by the Regional Council is needed that involves all of Sardinian society”.
The former President of the Region Antonello Cabras also spoke about the originality of Cogodi’s thinking and his pragmatic approach to the most relevant issues affecting Sardinian society: «Luigi was an unwelcome figure in the Palace, not because he supported opposing theses but because of the way he developed and proposed them. This inevitably put him at the center of the scene». A protagonism that overshadowed other positions in Sardinian politics. Many suffered from him and, in some way, tried to slow him down. «During the Melis Council, he was first councilor for Urban Planning and then for Labor – Cabras recalled – it was he who proposed the first “coast-saving” law that led to the demolition of many illegal buildings on the coasts. He was then moved to the Labor Department where he devised the Extraordinary Plan for Employment. Contrary to what many thought, however, he was not an unreasonable radical but a devotee of synthesis».
The volume will be available in bookstores throughout Sardinia in the next few days.
Monday, July 1, 2024
