“We want to continue governing to make the city grow further. Anselmo? More accustomed to the courts”

It was supposed to be a revival operation, it turned into a plot twist. They meet their gazes: “Eh, hi.” Mayor Alan Fabbri nods to the challenger, Fabio Anselmo who shows up at the Marrara headquarters. There, where it all began that cold February 28th five years ago. At the time, the Northern League member launched his candidacy in the “fraction furthest from the centre”. Now, the renomination has been made official. The Central bar has become a symbol because “it brought good luck then” and the hope of the crowd that welcomed the outgoing mayor – the entire Ferrara general staff was present, including members of the council and candidates – is that luck still smiles on the centre-right. Fabbri’s speech is halfway between conscious and proud. “If we look at what was written in my program five years ago – he explains – I would say that we have completed many things. But now we need to look to the future with foresight”. The tone is linear, then when he notices that the lawyer is at the back of the bar room, he lights up. And he dusts off some of his strong points, which have always been dear to his electoral campaigns. “For the Democratic Party it seems that nothing has happened in this province and that our administration is the cause of the evil in Ferrara – he states – But I would like to remind you that they, with the backing of the then minister Dario Franceschini, are the ones who eliminated the bank”. Here comes the jab also at the other candidate, Daniele Botti. “Those who pass themselves off as civic, but are supported by Italia Viva – he says – remember that Luigi Marattin was an advisor to the then prime minister Matteo Renzi. They signed the decree to eliminate the Carife. History will prove me right: that act was illegitimate “. The applause here was easy to take. You get to Anselmo from another road.

Not before attacking the Region “governed by the Democratic Party” which in his opinion has “a great responsibility for the failures of our healthcare, despite the efforts of the operators”. Speaking of operators, addressing his challenger, Fabbri returns to the controversy of recent days: “Anselmo has on his list not only those who were convicted for calling me a ‘wild boar’ – he recalls – but also the nurse who made unfounded accusations against me , denied by the health company”. Acknowledging that the administration “wasted a lot of time in court because someone tried to hinder us.” And Anselmo “has always fought in the courtroom, but I have never seen him do politics. While this hologram here has been in politics for 26 years”. He looks around and takes a breath. Because “the biggest struggle – explains Fabbri – is to remember what has been done in five years for the city. And above all for the hamlets, which we have always considered central enough to invest twenty million euros from the Pnrr”.

Next to the bar, as if to establish an ideal dialogue, the signs on the Palazzone construction sites dominate, a symbol of the redevelopment. “It is a mistake – is the final exhortation – to think that I have already won. Everyone must go and vote on 8 and 9 June. Ferrara deserves our commitment once again”. On the sidelines of the presentation, in Carlino’s notebook, Fabio Anselmo admits that “I learned a lot today: I saw the mayor live and not just on social media. I hope that he will accept a public confrontation with me”. Plot twists, we were saying.