After the story of Aldo and Nicola, father candidate with the right and son with the left, in Figline, another electoral curiosity arrives from Florence: teacher and student candidates on the same lists, those of Anima Firenze 2030, the creation of Giovanni Fittante lined up in the centre-left coalition in support of Sara Funaro’s candidacy for mayor.
She, Maria Candida Lubrano Di Ricco known as Marica, Neapolitan of origins but in Florence for many years, candidate for the city council; he, Yousef Tarhouni, 19 years old, Florentine mother and Tunisian father, candidate for districts 4 and 5. It certainly doesn’t happen often.
“When they offered me the candidacy I said that I would only accept by involving the kids. What other way to do it if not by offering them the possibility of entering the institutions?”, explains Di Ricco, professor of professional law at Sassetti Peruzzi, as well as a volunteer in various fields (Wwf, clown in the ward) and with the title of lawyer in her pocket.
“She told me that I seemed like the right profile and I immediately accepted. It’s a way to encourage my peers, who are mostly totally disillusioned, to get involved and vote”, says Yousef instead. “Besides, if I didn’t show up, not even my girlfriend would have gone to the polls.”
The two, who hand out leaflets together at the markets and in the neighborhoods, met until yesterday in the classroom of the 5th Fas (socio-health department) and obviously will find themselves facing each other also at graduation, in non-political guises in that case . “In September I will enroll in nursing, but I have already obtained the OSS certificate”, the student-candidate explains his life plans. But in the meantime there are elections.
“Among the kids there is a lot of disillusionment and indifference, the State seems very distant. I would like schools open all day, transformed into real ‘youth centers’ where they can meet, organize events, debates, concerts. Points of reference, in short” , explains Di Ricco, having another candidacy behind him, fifteen years ago for the province of Naples, on the list of Di Pietro’s Italia dei Valori, a party from which Fittante himself comes.
“For me it’s an unexpected adventure. Now I say to my teammates: get involved, don’t be afraid to do it”, adds Yousef. “My priorities in the event of election? Promote civic education in schools, create spaces for intergenerational dialogue and encourage the active participation of all citizens, obviously involving us younger people in the decision-making processes”.
Getting elected will be tough, but the future is long. “Young people, if they participate, have the power to change things, so let’s do it as the first step to build a better future. I am a resident of Sesto Fiorentino and, if I don’t get elected this time, I will try again there.” However, the Sesto elections are two years away, now it’s Florence.
