“I met Alessandro Portesani three times on his initiative. Pleasant conversations. In all three circumstances Portesani told me that if I had changed my mind and run for mayor he would have supported me with his own list”.
This was revealed in a passage published today on The provinceAnd Luciano Pizzetti. A statement that the newspaper relegated to the bottom of the page, hidden between the lines of a larger article but which sheds new light on the position of the centre-right candidate, Alessandro Portesani.
But as, today the acclaimed standard-bearer of the centre-right and of change, proud candidate of a civic body supported by Forza Italia, Fratelli d’Italia, UDC, Noi Moderati, Pli and Lega, Portesani was ready to take the field with his civic body in support of Pizzetti, undisputed leader of the center-left and first sponsor of Andrea Virgilio, who is today Portesani’s main antagonist?
It is true that politics today is decidedly fluid and it is well known that Portesani, before allying himself with the centre-right, also met leaders and exponents of the centre-left, but what Pizzetti declared goes a little beyond simple interlocution.
Late in the morning we asked Portesani himself to account for Pizzetti’s statements. At first, the response was blunt: “No. Partial and instrumental reconstruction”.
We then persisted with three questions: is it true that you contacted Pizzetti three times before being nominated? Is it true that you supported Pizzetti’s candidacy for mayor? Is it true that in the event of Pizzetti’s candidacy for mayor you told him that you would support him with his list?
To the first question Portesani responded with a dry “No”. “I saw Pizzetti twice and not three – he has declared -. The first time, when I met him, on October 30, 2023 at the Vigno bar. The second, and last time, on February 2, 2024, at 1 pm, at the La Lucciola restaurant. Pizzetti ordered a schnitzel. I saw Pizzetti, like many other political exponents, as spokesperson for Novità a Cremona. In particular, when I saw him for the first time I had already met all the political secretaries of the centre-right”.
Also no to the second question, with the clarification that “VI was that I asked Pizzetti why the centre-left didn’t nominate him for mayor. He replied that he had never given his availability in this sense.”
Finally, Portesani adds: “During the first meeting Pizzetti excluded his availability to apply. He told me about Virgil’s hypothesis of candidacy. I told him that I considered it a candidacy in continuity with the Galimberti administration and that it would have excluded the possibility of support from our civic body, which is called “News in Cremona” and not “Continuity in Cremona”. He proposed that I meet Virgilio. I did it and found confirmation of my belief. I’m still convinced of it. During the second meeting Novità in Cremona had already decided to join the centre-right coalition. Among other things, my candidacy for mayor was already maturing. The official announcement came a few days later”.
In the afternoon, given the mounting controversy, here is a long press release on the matter from the center-right candidate’s press office.
“Lies have short legs – notes Portesani’s press office –. A lot is being said in this election campaign in an attempt to discredit my figure, just because, unlike others, I don’t have a political past of unfulfilled promises to justify myself by. The former senator from Piddino launches into biased reconstructions of our meetings. He gets the dates wrong. Get numbers wrong. But above all he gets the contents wrong. It is therefore necessary to carry out a truth operation. To re-establish the facts and their truthfulness, in their correct sequence. The first imaginative narrative concerns the accusations of ‘circlebotism’ on the issues of the motorway and the new hospital. As I have already stated, the centre-right coalition and I are in favor of both. In particular, with respect to the Cremona-Mantua motorway, I am in favor of the construction of this infrastructure, as it would move the center of gravity of Lombardy’s socio-economic development towards the south, bringing it closer to Cremona”.
“About the new hospital – he adds – I am in favor of the implementation, as of any significant investment that allows for the strengthening of health services for the citizens of Cremona, to improve their quality, timeliness and proximity, as required by the regional health reform. At the same time, consistently with the attitude with which I want to administer the city, I believe that the citizens who recognize themselves in the No to the New Hospital Movement can be listened to, because they represent the requests of 6000 people, who cannot be ignored, as they have what Galimberti-Virgilio did and how Pizzetti-Virgilio want to do it. This is new to our political proposal.”
Returning to Pizzetti’s statements, “Finally, regarding the discussions that I carried out until the beginning of February with the political parties, to restore the truth it is good to demonstrate that there was no ‘political jam’ operation, a matter to which the former undersecretary is so so fond. To tell the citizens of Cremona the reliability of Pizzetti, supporter of Andrea Virgilio, candidate of the center left and always deputy mayor of Gianluca Galimberti”.
“Let’s start with the number of meetings – underlines Portesani –. Contrary to what Pizzetti claims, there were two meetings with him and not three. In particular, the first meeting was on 30 October 2023 at 3pm at the Vigno bar: the day we met. That same October 30th I saw secretary Soldo at 6pm inside the PD headquarters. The second bears the date of February 2, 2024, at lunch at the Lucciola tavern. Then there was no more meeting. I participated in the first meetings as spokesperson for the ‘News in Cremona’ list. I explained our program and checked whether there was any possibility of convergence. But right from the start I understood that the choice would fall on the centre-right, given that the Democratic Party would have supported the past, represented by Virgilio and Galimberti”.
“February 2nd – continues Portesani –, when I met Pizzetti for the second and last time, he launched the idea of a third group of virtuous people, an alternative to the two sides, with him as the candidate for mayor. I told him it would just be an ‘academic’ hypothesis. He too knew very well that it was impossible. At the end of lunch I explained to him that we had decided to join the centre-right coalition. During my discussions with the centre-right parties, which began well before those with Pizzetti, I had constantly informed the political representatives of my coalition of all the changes that had taken place with the centre-left”.
The mayoral candidate concludes: “Rather, I ask Luciano Pizzetti if he can affirm, without a doubt in denial, whether in the period between the first and second meeting he did not try to make me lean towards an alliance with the centre-left and with him. But now I want to continue this electoral campaign by talking to citizens about the program. I am sure that the people of Cremona are interested in our project for change, more than in these sterile controversies. It is yet another attempt at distraction implemented by Pizzetti to protect his ‘political protégé’ Virgilio from the inconsistency of the political proposal of a coalition divided by the contradictions of the Galimberti administration, of which their current candidate for mayor was the primary protagonist” .
