In a month, in addition to the ballot papers for the European elections, i Piedmontese they will also receive those for the regional elections. Alberto Cirio (Forza Italia), which in 2019 took the Region away from the centre-right by defeating the outgoing president Pd, Sergio Chiamparino (49.9% against 35.8%) also thanks to the solitary run of the 5 stars (13.6%), he is running again and this time it will be the center-left that will have to besiege the fort, an operation entrusted to Gianna Pentenero.
According to polls by BidiMedia it’s about a mission impossible: there would even be a gap of over 20 points between the two competitors. Thanks to the qualities of the re-candidate but also to the divisions within the Democratic Party and between the Democratic Party and the M5s. The latter are led by Chiara Appendinothe mayor of Turin who in her time asphalted Piero Fassino and replaced him as mayor, with an earthquake in which the wounds have not yet healed. Therefore the two parties are divided and Cirio can sleep peacefully.
Gianna Pentenero’s PD candidacy does not have support from the top
Demonstrating the resignation it is the way, in complete solitude, in which the candidate’s presentation took place, with Elly Schlein which hastily connected from the train and Stefano Bonaccini from the car. Not only. His candidacy arrived at the last minute, after hers had been rejected Daniele Vallevice-president of the regional council, e Chiara Gribaudo, deputy and national vice-president of the Democratic Party, a true Schleinian. The struggle between currents finally led to an armistice and the less than idyllic climate can be understood from what the PD regional secretary states, Domenico Rossi: «We arrived at the decisive assembly with two motions but in the end a unified scenario developed with the willingness of Valle and Gribaudo not so much to take a step back, I would never ask for this, but to take a step to the side. And this was also done thanks to Gianna Pentenero’s willingness to run.”
She’s trying now. She is 60 years old, current Labor councilor to the Municipality of Turin. He says: «Hard and complex work awaits us. I would like us to build this path quickly and all together, in the knowledge that we can do it. As far as I’m concerned, I have already served this Region with two great presidents, Mercedes Bresso And Sergio Chiamparino, and the city of Turin with the mayor Stefano Lo Russo. In a situation completely different from the current one we worked a lot and built a lot. So I believe I have what it takes to lead the Region.”
He got the support of Emma Bonino, Matteo Renzi and the Greens who refer to the center-left and the radicals. He says Silvia Fregolent, Turin senator from ItaliaViva «We of the United States of Europe support Pentenero. ItaliaViva with its community of men and women will be passionate about tackling the difficult challenge. We prefer ideas to safe seats.”
No wide field at the Piedmont regionals: M5s moves forward with Disabato
THE 5 stars they put into play Sarah Disabato, 35 years old, outgoing regional councilor, who says: «I am convinced that the key to turning the page in Piedmont is that of a programmatic agenda worthy of the desire for change requested by the citizens. And this clashes with the dialogue which, despite difficulties and differences, had been started in transparency and frankness in recent months with the Democratic Party to define the programmatic aspects of a shared and unitary political proposal”.
The five-star leader adds Giuseppe Conte: «We worked generously on the contents with the Democratic Party without indications on the candidates and we had objective difficulties. This does not mean that the Democratic Party will become an enemy. We always have a horizon for dialogue with progressives if they put good politics at the center. This did not happen in Piedmont.”
The centre-right re-nominated the outgoing governor Cirio
Alberto Cirio is 51 years old, he was a councilor regional and European Parliamentary. He managed to add the revived UDC and Liberal Party to the traditional centre-right parties. «I thank – he says – the entire coalition for the esteem and trust they have shown in me and which they confirm with my candidacy. In these difficult years, profoundly marked by the pandemic, the Piedmont has been able to face the many challenges with determination and courage, recovering the centrality that is due to a territory where Italy was born and which has done and continues to do so much for our country. Piedmont is my land, having guided it in these years has been an honor and now it is an honor to have the opportunity to ask the Piedmontese for their trust to continue to do so in the future, continuing what we started together.”
There is also with him Action, which is therefore on the opposite side of ItaliaViva. The Piedmontese commissioner of the party explains Carlo Calenda, Enrico Costa: «There won’t be the Action symbol but I’m running, with Calenda’s consent, on the Cirio presidential list».
The civics they make an act of presence and nothing more, they are not, as in other cases, the tip of the balance. Who could join the regional council is Giorgio Bertolaregional councilor of Green Europe, at the head of the environmentalist and supportive Piedmont list, which however only brings together a part of the Greens. But it won’t be easy to gain the seat.
So, barring twists and turns, the interest on the opening of the polls will be on the new balance of power that will be determined between the centre-right parties, with the possible overtaking of the League by Fi, on the electoral health of the Schlein-led PD and on the consistency of the downsizing of the 5 stars. Perhaps it is more from these results than from those of the European elections that the parties will be able to draw indications on the general political trend.
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