Uproar breaks out over the Regional Council meeting scheduled for April 23, but canceled the other day following input from governor Michele Emiliano given that the majority is short on numbers.
Having learned the news in the press, the centre-right opposition rebelled. «The regional council scheduled for next Tuesday 23 April? It must be kept! Indeed, right now it is essential that the highest meeting counts and lets public opinion and the institution know what is happening on a political level. We ask: is the majority that supports President Emiliano still there?”. Fiery words via press release dictated by the four center-right group leaders Ventola (Fratelli d’Italia), Mazzotta (Forza Italia), Splendido (Lega) and Pagliaro (La Puglia Domani).
Hence the invitation to President Capone: «We know that it is his (and President Emiliano’s) intention, contrary to what was agreed, not to convene the Regional Council on April 23rd. We hope it is fake news because, although we understand the political difficulties of the majority, we believe that the interests of the citizens of Puglia are a priority. Therefore, we invite you to convene the Council, fully fulfilling your institutional task so as to avoid us taking even sensational political decisions.”
The response from President Capone quickly followed, having in the meantime accepted the request of the acting group leader of the Democratic Party, Filippo Caracciolo. The president urgently called a conference of group leaders yesterday afternoon via video link. The meeting, however, was controversially deserted by the minorities with the exception of Stellato for the mixed group. The group leader Caracciolo himself took the floor, having not yet resigned despite the announcement, with the request not to convene the Council due to the unavailability of five members of the Dem group, to which was added a problem for the councilor Tutolo of the mixed party.
For the opposition, Stellato intervened and tried to oppose by leveraging the presumed support of the Five Star group leader, Marco Galante who surprisingly walked out. “The Movement is not in the opposition,” said Galante, paving the way for the centre-left’s decision to convene the session on 7 May. The confirmation came with the statement from President Capone: «As has happened in other circumstances in recent years, at the request of other political forces the request was accepted by the majority of the groups present».
Accommodating words which were followed by the comment of the PD group leader Caracciolo: «The witch hunt continues and overrides everything. I asked President Capone, as my center-right colleagues did previously, to move the April 23 session to May 7 due to the unavailability shown by some of the group’s councilors. In the past the work of the chamber was also postponed due to the absence of just one regional councilor. Many times we have complied with the requests of the center-right. The majority are in good health.”
Tags: Puglia regional council postponed attacks Majority difficulty
