PAVIA. At the celebration of June 2nd, the 78th anniversary of the birth of the Italian Republic, the greeting of the mayor Fabrizio Fracassi becomes his farewell speech.
On Saturday and Sunday the people of Pavia will vote to choose his successor, he has not been re-nominated by the centre-right, so he bids farewell to the city with a speech in which the words “institutions” and “responsibility” appear several times. A speech in which he wishes his successor to have a cohesive majority, recalling (implicitly) the many trips that his majority made him in five years of office, and explaining (explicitly) why, even in the face of more or less obvious requests from the his own majority, he did not resign before the end of his mandate.
The institutions and Matteotti
«I am a man of institutions – says Fracassi from the stage in the Visconti castle – and I am honored by this. Working for the institutions means working for everyone’s future and for me this meant being mayor. 78 years ago all Italians voted for the first time in the referendum between the monarchy and the Republic and chose the Republic: it was a courageous choice, recognition and homage to those who fought and sacrificed their lives for a better world . Among these men, one hundred years after his speech to Parliament, I remember Giacomo Matteotti and I invite those in the institutions to reflect on his example. A history on which a Constitution was built which has solidarity, inclusion and participation among its pillars.”
Hence the invitation to vote, on Saturday and Sunday, for the municipality and for the European elections.
«Voting is freedom, choice and hope: continues Fracassi – and to those who are running to become a man of the institutions I say that if abstentionism has increased over the years it is because young people above all no longer feel the same passion in those who work for the institutions that had the one who gave birth to the Republic which is celebrated on June 2nd.”
Then the passage more linked to his more recent political history and to the splits in the centre-right (never openly named) which characterized the last term of the legislature until the centre-right’s choice not to re-nominate him for the office of mayor for the second term.
“Never thought about resigning”
«Many have asked me why I didn’t resign – says Fracassi -. I didn’t do it, and I would never have done it, because when I was elected, I was elected by the citizens and I had a popular mandate. And at that moment I made a commitment. And the commitments are binding, so staying in place means responsibility towards the voters and respect for the institutions. A respect that must be the basis of those who administer public affairs.”
Advice to the successor
If he asks citizens to go and vote because voting is “freedom, choice and hope”, he asks his successor Fabrizio Fracassi to “fly high” without forgetting to keep their feet firmly on the ground.
«To quote Cesare Angelini, I hope that the next mayor of Pavia knows every corner of the city – he concludes -. And I hope it flies high to complete the projects started starting from the recovery of abandoned areas and give this splendid city the future it deserves. And I hope the next mayor has a majority and a competent, efficient, honest and cohesive team.”
And in the passage on cohesion those who follow (even not closely) the events of Mezzabarba have found the last pebble that Fabrizio Fracassi removed from his shoe.
