Governor Michele Emiliano does not bat an eyelid after the avalanche of criticism that has fallen on the mini council reshuffle. Tranquility and conviction filter through his staff in the choices made, an obligatory path considering the starting framework and the little room for manoeuvre. In the next few days the reshuffle will be illustrated in detail to public opinion with the presentation of the three new councilors Matrangola, Triggiani and Ciliento and there, perhaps, we will understand the real intentions and the recovery plan hypothesized for the end of the mandate.
In the meantime, however, the council’s restyling continues to attract complaints, protests and controversies. Above all, the Democratic Party is in turmoil with the Bat federation irritated by the choice of regional councilor Debora Ciliento, very close to senator Francesco Boccia, right-hand man of secretary Schlein. Expressing disappointment is Elvira Tarsitano, Bari provincial coordinator of the Democratic Party, who contests the exclusion of the party and the failure to participate in an internal debate before the appointments: «What we have experienced is another story. Choices and appointments, although high profile, lack that sense of sharing in a path that makes our voters proud. It is unacceptable that the appointments were made alone, without democratic consultation. A sad combination of meritocracy and competition that is very reminiscent of the “social Darwinism” of Spenserian memory, which really has no reason to exist.”
Even in the Bat’s Democratic Party, stomach aches emerge in all their vehemence. «The path that led to the nomination of Ciliento appears neither a prize nor a recognition of a territory, but almost an obligatory choice. This is not how Bat wanted a role. Indeed, let’s even say that this role mortifies the territory, which has offered a positive contribution for years. There’s no point in hiding it, we were hoping for a different path, especially considering the price paid for the events that have characterized the last period.”
A heated climate, in short, partly dampened by the Apulian secretary De Santis who late in the evening tries to take on the role of the firefighter: «We have made a much more significant political request, that is to start a new phase, animated by new policies, a truly regenerating change of pace. Is everything perfect now? No, it would be naive to think that our proposals can all be implemented immediately, but a first step has been taken.” Immediately afterwards, however, the either/or is triggered: «The Democratic Party can continue to support this majority with the approval of the law against gender violence, the law against poverty, the law on the minimum wage, the law on social housing with a large public housing plan.”
The national secretary of the Italian Left, Nicola Fratoianni, is also caustic: «My impression is that it is the dignity of politics that pays, in the Puglia Region we are faced with a mini-make-up, an aesthetic operation. Nothing to do with what we, the M5s and Elly Schlein had asked for, who had talked about zeroing. We have gone from a moral question to a total farce.”
