«Stefania Saccardi’s list has two possibilities: the first is to go to the run-off and in that case we win. The second is not to go there and to be decisive.” Matteo Renzi wants to be the tip of the balanceIn fact he says it will be. He also says that here, in Florence, he expects to achieve “the best result in Italy”in front of the militants gathered on Saturday at the Serre Torrigiani for the presentation of his candidacy for the European elections and that of his mayoral candidates for the municipal elections in Tuscany, starting with the vice-president of Tuscany.
Decisive, ok, but which side?
Renzi does not rule out any options. He does so by “beating” the Democratic Party more than the right in his declarations, effectively leaving the door open which after the first round leads to a dialogue with Eike Schmidt, the civic candidate supported by Fratelli d’Italia, Lega and Forza Italia. «In Florence we think we will achieve an extraordinary result, which will make a difference for the city», he explains after talking about the «dems who have now put themselves in the hands of the Five Star Movement». The reference is to the negotiations that the Five Star Movement is carrying out with the governing party. As if to say: it’s us or them.
An agreement between Renzians and the centre-right in the second round would be sensational, but the city coordinator of FdI Jacopo Cellai also spoke about it on Friday: «If Fratelli d’Italia wants to vote for Saccardi in the run-off we’ll take note of it» jokes Renzi. Who knows if he thinks the same way as the candidate for mayor of Florence, who would certainly have some more problems in returning to the regional council led by the Democratic Party after having allied itself with the centre-right.
However, Renzi will intervene directly in the campaign for Palazzo Vecchio. Claiming to have political paternity in some way over each of the contenders: «Here there are three candidates: on the one hand there is Schmidt, a person of undoubted value to be the director of museums. Our Government called him to be the director of the Uffizi, therefore to be the director of a museum, and moreover now he is the director of a museum in Naples. So his relationship with Florence was born thanks to the Renzi Government who had entrusted him with managing the most important museum center in Italy. Then – he continues – there is Sara Funaro, who grew up with the Renzi list in 2009: she didn’t manage to get elected then, but nevertheless she committed herself to Montedomini and we tried to valorise her, because we aim to valorise people . So I have no problems with either Schmidt or Funarowe gave something to both of us.”
The IV candidates parade in the neighboring municipalities, including those of Prato Mario Daneri and that of Montecatini Edoardo Fanucci. The entire party staff in Tuscany is present, except for the regional coordinator Nicola Danti. That as an outgoing MEP he rejected the nomination on the United States of Europe list after Renzi’s unexpected choice. «Nicola had said from the first moment that if I had run for the European elections he would not have run: it is a choice, of course, that I respect» tries to close the Renzi case, recalling the long friendship between the two.
