While waiting for the construction sites to open, the Mediterranean Games are causing new, bitter tensions between old traveling companions.
«On 12 April, with a formal letter, the President of the Puglia Region said yes to the agreement with the Government regarding the works of the Mediterranean Games. In this way the triggering cause of the open conflict against the municipal administration of Taranto has disappeared, which, according to the regional government, was responsible for not having defended the role of the Region in the governance of the Games. At this point – given that Puglia has returned to fully participate in the organization of the Mediterranean Games, indirectly recognizing that there had been no action on the part of the Municipality of Taranto aimed at reducing its role in the management of the important sporting event – one of the arguments with which we tried to justify the attempt, fortunately unsuccessful, to early dissolve the Taranto City Council has failed miserably.”
I’m the one talking the deputy mayor of Taranto, Gianni Azzaro, and the city councilors Fatbardha Bianca Boshnjaku, Michele De Martino and Valerio Papa, all former members of the Democratic Partywho distanced themselves or were distanced from the Democratic Party precisely because of their support for the council led by Rinaldo Melucci once the rift between the mayor and the dem. «On the other hand» continue Azzaro, Boshnjaku, De Martino and Papa «precisely in these days, the majority of the Municipality has further strengthened and, therefore, the city institution represents even more an interlocutor from which one cannot ignore if we want to guarantee the timely completion of the works and the success of the Games.” A subsequent statement, signed by, is decidedly harsher in tone “The majority council groups of the Municipality of Taranto”, which states that «the regional council only in recent days said yes to the agreement with the Government regarding the works to be carried out for the Mediterranean Games. After having engaged in a dilatory and inconclusive clash on the governance of the sporting event, which contributed significantly to the delay in starting the works, the Region has finally decided to express its opinion. Today, he should recognize that he was wrong, given that in substance the places and works have remained largely the same, but he should also recognize that the question of governance of the Games, as one of the arguments to ask for nothing less than the early dissolution of the Taranto City Council.
The Municipality had been attacked precisely because it had tried to speed up the process of the necessary obligations, putting the interests of the City before any other type of consideration, as it has always done and is continuing to do on all the main administrative dossiers, carrying forward the program “Taranto Ecosystem”. Fortunately, the attempt at early dissolution – which moreover would have jeopardized the very realization of the important sporting event – failed miserably and today the Municipality is in a position to fully carry out its role to guarantee the timely completion of the works and the success of the Games, with all that this entails in terms of positive impact on the economy and development of our territory.”
But what is also “heavy” is the response of Pd, Con, Green Europe, A different path and Socialism XXI to former allies. «The latest attack on the Puglia Region by the majority that supports Mayor Melucci is clumsy, not very institutional and full of inaccuracies» we read in a joint note. Rather than investing time and energy in solving the many problems that afflict the city, at Palazzo di Città we prefer to continue playing guerrilla warfare with the higher institutional level, with which we should collaborate in the interest of the community. Regarding the Mediterranean Games, we must remember that the Constitutional Court, only a few weeks ago, restored dignity to the role of which the Puglia Region was deprived by the Fitto-Melucci agreement. The Supreme Court has specified that agreements with the Region itself are necessary in order to proceed with the inter-ministerial decrees for the allocation of financial supplies”. Pd, Con, Europa Verde, Una Strada diversi and Socialismo XXI add that «today, after 19 months nothing has changed. The approval of the Court of Auditors and the disbursement of the contribution which is not yet in the cash register are still missing and the projects are the same as a year and a half ago.
On some (Iacovone stadium, PalaRicciardi and Paolo VI gym, for example) a step backwards was even taken. We don’t talk about everything that surrounds an event of this magnitude and makes it possible: logistics, hospitality, traffic, ceremonial, safety. The mayor and the majority should deal with these aspects rather than playing war against the Region. We must also remember that we wanted to close the administrative experience not only for the disastrous way of managing the governance of the Mediterranean Games, but above all because Rinaldo Melucci betrayed the electoral pact that won the elections in 2022, he subverted the popular will of the Tarantini and radically changed his approach to the programme. We were right, just look at what happened next. In recent months Taranto has been the stage for a political horror film, in which the protagonists are characters who change their minds overnight, in order to guarantee themselves a boost in power and the maintenance of benefits. Their word is worthless. They are those who, behind the screen of “I do it with suffering for the city”have the sole objective of guaranteeing themselves, at the cost of undermining all credibility of politics and institutions.
The suffering is certainly not theirs, who lightly accept departments and modify the rules of the institutional game for their personal aspirations. The suffering lies with the city, which needs a serious, passionate and competent ruling class. We will continue to work for the good of Taranto and to provide it with administrators of an adequate level.”
Previously, Mattia Giorno he had invited the members of the current majority at Palazzo di Città to «not get lost in controversies and to be a little more rational in dealing with the topic of Games, remembering that the ruling of the Constitutional Court was not a useless waste of time but the the need for respect for the Constitution and for Italian citizens in the matter to be re-established. The Region responded in a very short time, less than a week of work, a sign that the will to hold the Games still exists and is tangible. They would have asked with the same vehemence as Fitto on Ilva, Zes, Ferretti, ex Tct, money for the state road 100, or Crosetto to respect the territory and unblock the hiring in the arsenal and not take the “Trieste” away from the Taranto base”.
Tags: #allies #quarrel Taranto Good evening
