If one really wanted to draw a metaphor from the location of the Don Bosco cinema, where Elly Schlein set her final event of the electoral campaign for Piero Marrese as president of the Basilicata Region, it would not be a good omen: the entrance to the room next to the parish which welcomes the supporters of the Democratic Party is literally obscured by the skeleton of the blue and black stage in the square in front, where the workers are working to set up today’s rally at which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini are announced.
SECRETARY goes around the barriers, shakes hands and says hello, arrives accompanied by Antonio Decaro, who announces his candidacy in the European elections in Potenza, obviously in the southern constituency. «I would like to bring the point of view of the administrators, I will deal with local authorities – says the mayor of Bari and president of the Anci – Europe is thought to be far away, but what happens in our communities is decided at that level. The experience of a local administrator, who every day has to give answers to new questions that come from his community, can be an added value.”
THEY ALSO SPIN the two Lucanian parliamentarians Enzo Amendola and Roberto Speranza. The latter, customers comment, hasn’t been seen much in this election campaign. Which is actually a bit strange, given that in these parts there has been nothing but talk about the right to health and that he was the health minister who had to manage the pandemic for two governments. «We must defend the National Health Service at all costs – claims Schlein – In Basilicata doctors and nurses work exhausting shifts, with the real risk of facing exhaustion. Many have chosen to go abroad or move into the private sector, it hurts to see so many token operators who take more money than those who are regularly employed in the public sector.”
THE CONTROVERSY of the day was raised by the king of white cooperatives Angelo Chiorazzo, who knows a lot about healthcare and accounts. He is running at the top of his Basilicata Casa Comune list and the right accuses him of a conflict of interest. He responds by criticizing what has been done in recent months. According to what the entrepreneur states, in fact, several tens of millions of euros are missing from the balance sheets. Therefore, Lucanian healthcare would risk being placed under commissionership for the first time. It would be a disgrace and an unmistakable signal given that here it has always been said that the hospital system was an anomaly compared to others in the South. «Our task will be to unblock hiring, proposing an extraordinary plan at a regional level like the one Marrese is writing – adds Schlein – In five years with Bardi we have only seen a high number of Lucanians going for treatment elsewhere. Hospitals are not only needed in big cities, but also in internal areas: the right has done nothing but make fun of the elderly, Bardi has never proposed a plan for non-self-sufficient or disabled people.”
«CARITAS had to open a clinic in the province of Potenza. In five years thirty general directors have alternated, all not local – explains Giampiero Maruggi, who is running for the centre-left on the list with Chiorazzo and was director of San Carlo after having worked as a banking manager – This chaos creates a weakening of rights, in first and foremost that of health. Furthermore, the right has completely forgotten the internal areas. The Policoro hospital, for example, has lost 30% of productivity and 20% of employees in five years.” It’s not the only case: the most sensational contradiction comes from Val d’Agri: there is the largest oil extraction plant in Europe but the hospital doesn’t work.
THE LATEST SURVEYS they would in fact give Marrese, a good administrator strong in the Matera and Metaponto areas, recovering. The game remains difficult and those who follow Lucanian electoral flows maintain that the real unknown is the abstention: if it were high it would favor the more organized groups of votes. This is where the second question arises. The move to the center of the former president of the Region Marcello Pittella (which ensures that the last two presidents, one centre-right and the other centre-left, are allies despite Bardi having spent five years blaming his predecessor for every possible failure) will the difference? Will his voters really follow him? To complicate the scenario, Maurizio’s brother, Gianni, former vice-president of the European Parliament who was very close to Giorgio Napolitano and who is now mayor of Lauria governed by a centre-left majority, welcomed his brother’s transhumance with great embarrassment. . After declaring that he did not agree with it, he remained silent for practically the entire electoral campaign. In recent days, from the stage in Matera, Giuseppe Conte highlighted the Pittella story as emblematic: «To ally with us, the Democratic Party must give up the transformists» said the leader of the M5S. Pittella responded with similar tones and moved the issue to a national level. He claims that his former party is now in the wake of the 5 Star Movement, and it is clear that the fight against the “caciques” promised by Elly Schlein is being played out on a thin ridge.
Tags: Schlein Basilicata cuts healthcare beaten
