The latest stroke of populist strategy was like a banana peel for the mayor of Taormina candidate for the European elections. The no to the Strait Bridge, a role, ideology and “environment” that does not belong to him, risks costing him dearly. Not so much for the “no” itself but for the sudden political turnaround which appears like a fall in terms of credibility and coherence. If the demonstration under the Ganzirri pylon, in Capo Peloro, had not been supported by music, it would probably have had lower participation, probably more in line with the numbers photographed at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele a few evenings before. And if Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto has responded better in some ways, Messina seems to have suddenly fallen out of love with the self-proclaimed “emperor of the two Sicilies”. The comments under the posts are relentless and widely negative and convey bitter disappointment. And even the city newspaper, the Gazzetta del Sud, this morning is not tender towards the “Mayor of Italy”. My colleague Lucio D’Amico writes that “feelings have changed and if De Luca used to fill the squares, that’s no longer the case.”
An indisputable fact, despite the frantic denial of the faithful and the most active fans. Messina is implacable and this law which was already valid also for art and music, electing the Messina Theater as one of the most uncomfortable and critical stages in Italy even before 1908, is still valid as an ironclad rule of courses and appeals, also applies to De Luca. The risk for the candidate De Luca and for the “soldier” Basile is that of boiling slowly until suddenly waking up in a pot of water that has gone from lukewarm to hot, or rather boiling.
