BAGHERIA (PA) – Weeks of hypotheses, confirmations and denials. Endless days in which there were rumors, fateful steps forward, positions taken and sudden about-faces. Now, barring further surprises, the actors of the upcoming administrative elections in Bagheria. Election date scheduled for next June 8th.
Five candidates for the office of mayor of Bagheria
Five candidates for the office of mayor: Massimo Gargano, Rosario Giammanco, Pina Provino, Ignazio Soresi and Filippo Tripoli. A clear gender imbalance, given the presence of only one woman among the aspirants to lead the Municipality. And this is not even the only, glaring peculiarity of this electoral competition. Another obvious gap, in fact, is that between civic lists and political parties.
Massive presence of civic lists
Among the realities ready to present themselves to the Bagheria electorate, there are several those belonging to already structured parties. For example, the symbols of the Brothers of Italy, Forza Italia and Christian Democracy take to the field. What stands out, however, is the massive presence of civic lists: ten at the moment, seven of which belong to a single civic coalition.
A fact, that of a significant amount of civility, which certainly cannot go unnoticed, especially when referring to a city like Bagheria, which has over fifty thousand inhabitants and which represents, after Palermo, the largest municipality in the province.
L’meeting-clash between civility and partyism it cannot be overlooked so easily, apparently, not even by the mayoral candidates themselves. According to what emerges from the first debates between the parties in the field, in fact, it seems that among the points destined to fuel the electoral campaign, there may be precisely that which aims to establish which model, between civic and party, is the most appropriate to offer to the city .
In recent days, in the premises of Palazzo Villarosa, it took place the first official comparison between the five candidates. An occasion in which everyone was able to present themselves to the citizens and highlight some points of their program with respect to the objective of promoting the growth and development of the city, allowing those to emerge which – obviously net of the different visions of each candidate – seem the most pressing and recurring themes in this particular situation: the management and functioning of public services, urban greenery, safety in the streets, youth policies, legality, relations with citizens and with entrepreneurs present in the area.
Beyond the specifics and ideas presented by the candidates, however, during the debate some brief considerations were actually expressed on the topic of comparison between civic and party formula. An awareness that starts from the same “factions” present on the electoral scene and which, therefore, seems to be a symptom of an overall local politics whose future direction is perhaps still uncertain.
Who expressed his opinion on the issue, for example, the candidate Pina Provino, who said: “Our list is made up of people united by the idea that only structured parties can concretely plan and implement a programme. We are in fact convinced that the civic lists and civic life are truly in decline, due to the inability to maintain that unity of ideals even and above all after the electoral confrontation.” And he quoted, in this regard, Antonello Cracolici, president of the Regional Anti-Mafia Commission who, in an interview a few days ago, harshly criticized the civic lists.
Another contribution regarding this topic came from candidate Massimo Garganoalbeit more cautious, considering that the civic imprint is not absent in his coalition: “I wouldn’t want – he stated – the idea to get across that dealing with national reference parties is a defect, indeed I believe it is a high form of participatory democracy.”
On this point, however, candidate Filippo Tripoli, the outgoing mayor, has not changed his mind, who declared: “We are continuing a journey. We already presented ourselves in 2019 with a civic coalition, now we have rebuilt this coalition with the experience of the first five years but, obviously, with a new approach. Even within civic coalitions, disagreements arise and rightly so. Civility is a value to the extent that those who interpret it believe in civility.”
Tags: Bagheria parties civility put test polls
