There mid-term press conference they are now a presidential custom that serves to summarize, consolidate and relaunch. The same goes for Roberto Occhiuto, president of the regional council of Calabria who, thirty months after taking office in October 2021, gathered journalists in the small conference room on the first floor of the Lamezia Terme airport. They did it, from memory, Giuseppe Scopelliti at the Guglielmo hotel in Catanzaro, Mario Oliverio at the Cittadella with more crowded rooms and with the help of gradually evolved means, from paper to digital according to the trend of the moment. Occhiuto relied on the video which retraced the salient stages of the first half of his journey, and on the slides, the most convenient and useful means of remembering an agenda full of data and figures. The councilors were almost completely seated in the front row, with only the deputy Princi left, who knows, to guard the Citadel, but more probably already intent on refining the electoral line of conduct. Matilde Siracusano, Undersecretary for Relations with Parliament in the Meloni government, also briefly attended.
Roberto Occhiuto began with what it considers to be its overall novelty: the new narrative of Calabria as a region capable of being governed and experiencing change, as it is starting to be recognized both at a national level – see the Roman ministerial tables – and in Brussels – see the congratulations of President Metsola and the European Commissioner who wants to follow the strategy to combat forest fires. Then the long list of things done, according to his intentions not to proceed by announcements – another innovation implemented – but by description of what has already been implemented. Of course, the future and the futuristic have not completely disappeared from the president’s phraseology, and sometimes he pops up. Since everything, or almost everything, is already known, we refer to the footnotes which report the outlines of the facts as illustrated by the president. Conversely, we give an overview of the answers to the questions posed by journalists, which contain new ideas and clarifications on Calabrian and national events, the latter deduced from the position of deputy national secretary of Forza Italia. Even in the event of a reshuffle following the European elections, Occhiuto will not leave his current position, wanting to fully honor the commitment made to the voters to lead Calabria for five years: “I have no intention of giving up until the end of sent, then we’ll see.”
For a possible new mandate, it is still premature to talk about it. Also because being president of Calabria is, notoriously, not a walk in the park: “Working in a region with the problems that Calabria has, you need to have incentives to not lose heart. The incentives are there. If at the end of the mandate I understand that these stimuli can be useful and if I feel sufficiently energized, I will run again. But if I understand that this experience has worn me out, I will ask someone else from the center-right to continue, hoping that he will continue along the same lines as me.”
On expectations at the European Championships, in a region that has been particularly generous with Forza Italia for twenty years now, Occhiuto expects “Calabria to confirm the results we have always had and I’m sure they will reconfirm them. I am convinced that the centre-right will do well, and that Forza Italia will convince many without stealing a vote from Fdi and Lega”. This was said for a sigh of relief from the Northern League and Brotherhood councilors in the room.
New, perhaps the only real one from the conference, is the renewed agreement with Rai, also extended for New Year’s Eve 2025 and with an expanded commitment in terms of the number of advertising and information spaces.
No second thoughts about costs, also because the relationship between cost and contacts is particularly favourable, and their use has contributed significantly to changing the image of Calabria and the Calabrians.
On the differentiated autonomy that the general discussion in the chamber begins today, Occhiuto’s advice is to evaluate with prudence, taking into account the intentions of the last regional council: “Without money for the Lep, no agreement. For subjects that do not fall within the scope of the Lep, such as foreign trade, the intention is to evaluate from time to time the impact that will derive from the assumption of its own skills”.
Displeased by the dissolution of the Tropea municipal council due to the mafia, Occhiuto claims “the duty to respect the decisions of the government and state bodies even when they risk causing damage to one’s image. I’m sorry but I have respect for the decisions that the government, prefectures and state bodies take regarding such complicated and important issues as legality”.
There is also space for the funds of the former article 20 which, following Minister Fitto’s decisions to divert the equalization fund for the South, Occhiuto wanted to immediately allocate to the construction of the new hospitals in Palmi and Vibo. Part of those funds was intended for the new hospital in Catanzaro. The journalist’s question: those funds no longer exist for Catanzaro. Occhiuto’s response was indirect, in the sense that he recalled the other funds on the table for healthcare construction, including the Inail funds. In essence, confirming that the former article 20 for Catanzaro is, in fact, an ex article.
