“Pursuing the general interest, the good of the community and the promotion of the rights and duties of citizenship of each individual is the beacon that must guide political action in a democracy. Politics, understood as a service, must be authoritative, credible and responsible in the eyes of citizens. Must know how to analyze problems and propose concrete solutions. Anyone who applies to hold a political role, at a local and European level, must not only be a person of outstanding honesty, but also competent and responsible”. Thus begins, very attentive to gender inclusion, the appeal that Public Notice launched on March 21st to the candidates of the European and administrative elections of June 8th and 9th. This afternoon in the De Nobili library in Catanzaro the Calabrian presentation of the Appeal – we attach it at the end of the article – co-signed by Freethe anti-mafia association founded by Luigi Ciotti in 1995 which has consolidated roots in Calabria.
The birth of Notice Publico dates back to the following year to bring together administrators who are committed to promoting the culture of democratic legality. The mayor of Catanzaro is satisfied with the choice: “We are very happy – said Nicola Fiorita – We believe that Notice Public has chosen Catanzaro to present the appeal. We also consider it a symbolic fact which in some way testifies to the relationships that are developing with Notice Public. We have chosen to join the network, the procedure is underway which will perhaps make us first among the regional capitals, certainly among the few to join, because we share the spirit and values that animate this appeal and this commitment”.
Various articulations of various levels represent Public Notice, starting with Pierpaolo Romani who is the national coordinator: “The appeal we are launching today to the candidates for the European and administrative elections invites them to commit concretely to the issue of legality and transparency by implementing behaviors and tools that can actually have an impact on reality”. The specification of “concreteness” often returns to the intentions of promoters: But what does it mean, concretely? “If you are elected within the local administrations – says Romani by way of example – activate an ad hoc department, if you are elected adopt the Public Notice Charter which is a behavioral code of good politics and obviously train the staff of the administration on these issues. There is a need for knowledge and experience in terms of good practices.”
The Public Notice Charter, latest version of 2023, is made up of 20 articles that give an understanding of how a good administrator can implement the principles of transparency, impartiality, discipline and honor envisaged by articles 54 and 97 of the Constitution in everyday life. To sign the Public Notice Charter it is not mandatory to join the Association and national and European parliamentarians can also join.
What is more immediately relevant is the Appeal of March 21st reiterated today in Catanzaro. “It’s a tool – he explains Giuseppe Politanò deputy mayor of Polistena and regional coordinator of Public Notice – to stimulate local administrators. This year, a third of the Calabrian municipalities will go to administrative elections, 135 of which 4 have more than 15 thousand inhabitants, including Vibo Valentia, the provincial capital. This appeal together with the Public Notice Charter aims to constitute a commitment to translate the anti-mafia that we declaim every day in words into an administrative action that manages to change people’s lives. It is no longer enough to say which side we want to be on but to practice what we practice. Here, reduce the distance between what is preached and what is practiced, between what is said and what is done.”
Concept reiterated by Giuseppe Borrello contact person for Libera Calabria: “It is an appeal that aims to represent a guide for candidates for European and local elections, for political action aimed at the general interest of the community and the promotion of the rights and duties of citizenship. An initiative that we are carrying out at an important time for Calabria which unfortunately has the highest number of municipalities dissolved due to mafia infiltration. We think it is an important initiative due to the fact that Calabria is affected by police and judiciary operations almost every day with important trials underway.
We hope that the Municipalities called to vote, 135 of which including two voting after the dissolution of the Council, are up to the historic moment that Calabria is experiencing”. An appeal also addressed to voters. “Of course – continues Borrello – an appeal addressed to citizens to cast their votes responsibly, in a free manner, free from any conditioning.
We make our own a great teaching from Paolo Borsellino who said that political parties must assume full responsibility by cleaning up their internal systems, getting rid not only of those under investigation and those convicted but also of the so-called talked about, those politicians who, due to their closeness to certain environments become less credible for the management of public affairs, we cannot leave the fight against the mafia to the judiciary otherwise we run the risk of increasing the confusion between innocence and silence”.
The usefulness of this tool has been exercised Rocco Sciarrone professor of Sociology of mafias at the University of Turin: “Useful tools, Charter and Notice, together with many other concrete behaviors, useful and necessary tools to distinguish good politics from bad. Above all to give credibility and authority to politics which is essential for governing public affairs but also for combating the mafias, the ‘Ndrangheta and corruption. We know that politics is a favorite terrain for criminal groups and it is therefore really important to have tools of engagement to distinguish criminal responsibility from political responsibility. Today – the scholar recommended – the fight against the ndrangheta is delegated almost exclusively to judicial repression, it is essential to combine this type of fight with prevention and political responsibility tools”.
