LAMEZIA TERME «Europe is a place of doing, not of talking. Maybe in Italy we didn’t realize it, but what happens there has direct repercussions on our daily lives.” Francesco De Nisi he is thus launching his candidacy in the next European elections on 8 and 9 June. The regional secretary of Action, guest of They ringthe talk broadcast on The other Corriere TVexplains the reasons for his entry into the field for a place in the European Parliament, a decision taken «at the request of the national secretary Carlo Calenda». «As a leader of the party that I am helping to build in this region, I felt I had to accept because I have to give my contribution to the national party. And then because I believe that Europe needs people with a vision like that of the politicians who are part of our party” he states to Ugo Floro And Danilo Monteleone. But the regional councilor also provides an analysis of the 30 months of Occhiuto’s government, focusing on two key themes of Calabrian politics: healthcare and the environment.
The importance of the European elections
For De Nisi, the European elections must not represent a mere “test for the political approval of national leaders”. «In Italy we face the electoral campaign forgetting that Europe is an assembly that regulates the life mechanisms of the member countries. If we don’t get into this perspective, we won’t send representatives to the European Parliament who are in the interests of Italians». A question raised by Azionale leader Carlo Calenda himself, who nevertheless decided to run himself. «Calenda – he continues – consistently says that those who don’t go to Europe should not be candidates. But when the European battle turns into a battle of national politics, this forces almost all leaders to take the field and show their face.». From a European campaign, explains De Nisi, it has become «a national campaign. Among the candidates of the various parties there are people who have nothing to do with Europe and who don’t even want it.”
Inside Action «leaders from the center-right and the center-left»
Among the Action candidates, however, there are politicians who join together, abandoning the other two factions. «We have leaders who come from the right and the left. Soon there will be transfers of people who have a certain regional political weight and come from the center-right.” Just as they arrived from the opposite side, transfers favored by the fact that the moderate area which together with the DS founded the Democratic Party “has completely disappeared”. De Nisi recalls his past “among the first members” of the Democratic Party. «I was able to stay there as long as there was that representation for the moderate side, then it moved more and more towards the left wing». A decline from which the idea of building “an attractive and welcoming center for both parties” was born. The regional secretary specifies that «it is not the two-oven policy. There are regional or administrative elections where, with the majority system, whoever gets one more vote wins and it is normal to choose one camp rather than another. But in the European elections with pure proportional representation it is right that Action participates and contributes».
On regional government and healthcare
At a regional level, Azione supports Occhiuto’s centre-right, which a few days ago “celebrated” 30 months in office. «He illustrated the great work he has done in recent months. As he rightly said, Calabria is a very difficult region to govern. But in addition to the “exceptional” things, which need a President who applies them, the Region must start managing daily life well». Among these essential services is healthcare. «It is a complicated sector in which Occhiuto is working and where there will be some improvements over time. Someone has already been there, but it takes time to recover the gap of 12 years of commissionership, when spending, investment and planning were blocked. Closing this gap is difficult, but the conditions are there». For De Nisi, help must come from the national government. “Calabria must be helped, not just controlled, beaten and scolded.” With an excellent result at the European Championships, there could also be glimmers of opportunity for a regional “reshuffle” that also includes Action, after the Fratelli d’Italia has already asked for more “spaces”. «These are assessments that the President must make. Fratelli d’Italia already counts a lot from the point of view of administrative weight, delegations and functions. So I would rather say that he should improve what he is doing, more delegations does not always mean greater effectiveness”.
On the environment and purifiers
De Nisi continues his analysis of the regional government, placing emphasis on the issue of the environment. «There was a great commitment to control and repression. There is great attention, but the problems are solved if the infrastructure to do so is created». The reference is to the purification system: «If we do not intervene in a massive and structural way on the network of purification plants, renewing them, the problem will only remain a warning. They should not be addressed in a temporary way, such as for the summer season alone, but in a structural way». Even if it is a municipal responsibility, that of sewage treatment is a problem that comes from afar. «For years and years of commissionership. We have lost 10 years of development and no results have arrived from the national government’s commissionership: this is because Calabria has been forgotten. These are the faults of the various governments that have followed one another and which have abandoned the police sector, as well as healthcare.”
4% target
Returning to the European elections, De Nisi promises to «bring concreteness and try to solve the problems. Those who run for office in Europe must face European problems and I think that the European Parliament can help a region like Calabria. It’s not just an election round or a fact-finding tour of the European Parliament for some MEPs.” The Action candidate recalls the debate on the ETS directive around the Port of Gioia Tauro. «I saw some people who represent us in Europe come here to give conferences without even understanding what they were talking about. If one had looked deeper he would have understood that Calabria perhaps had solutions that other ports could not have. These things should be studied, instead we just talk to say something». De Nisi appears optimistic for the June elections and sets the objective: «We must exceed the national percentage which is between 4 and 5%. We have good polls and we hope to go further” ([email protected])
