There Libera Calabria regional secretariat intervenes on the occasion of the imminent call to the polls. A long analysis and a call for responsibility in view of the vote.
Municipal police stations and anti-mafia investigations
«In a few hours – writes Libera – the electoral campaign for the European and local elections will end. In addition to the election of representatives to the European Parliament, in Calabria there are votes in 135 municipalities for the renewal of the municipal council and, therefore, for the election of the mayor. Two of these municipalities are back to voting after their dissolution due to mafia-type infiltration and conditioning, one in the province of Reggio Calabria, Portigliola, and the other in the province of Vibo Valentia, Soriano Calabro, already dissolved twice. An electoral round of particular interest in our region affected by continuous operations by the police and important mafia trials which have confirmed the great ability of organized crime to influence the political, economic and social life of entire territories. There are some municipalities, in particular those in the Vibo area, including the capital Vibo Valentia, which are returning to the vote after a succession of important operations, like Rebirth – Scott, the largest operation against the ‘Ndrangheta. All these operations, the dissolutions, the access commissions demonstrate that politics and the parties have not always been up to the historical moment we are experiencing with respect to that strong and widespread feeling of liberation of the territories”.
The pact for the city
«Recalling a great teaching of Paolo Borsellino – continues the press release – we have made a strong appeal to the political parties and alignments to feel a strong sense of responsibility which must lead them to carry out a major internal clean-up not only of those under investigation and convicted but also of those who are “chatted” for a certain type of vicinity, attitudes which, even if they do not constitute a crime, make that politician less credible and unreliable in the management of public affairs. In this sense – adds the association – a strong and uncompromising change of pace is necessary. And right at Vibo Valentia with the association “Together for the Common Good” – recalls Libera – we presented the “Pact for the City”: a concrete opportunity for direct participation and active citizenship that can serve to create antibodies against malfeasance and corruption. Reciprocal commitments of a programmatic, ethical, democratic and concrete nature for the good of the community, which bind administrators and citizens in a continuous relationship of verification and planning, the foundation of an authentic ascending democracy. An integral part of the pact are also the “Appeal to candidates” and the “Code of Ethics for good politics” developed by “Notice public”, the association that brings together local authorities and regions against mafias and corruption”.
The appeal to the voters
Proceeding with the analysis, the association highlights: «In these administrative elections we unfortunately had to record the lack of candidates for the municipality of San Luca (Reggio Calabria). A particular situation that deserves particular attention from national politics and the State to defeat that sense of resignation and fuel that desire for change on the part of the citizens of San Luca”.
Finally, «an appeal addressed to the citizens of Calabria. We cannot ask politics to do their part with clarity and transparency, if not before, as citizens we assume our share of responsibility in the management of “public affairs”. An assumption of responsibility starting from the vote of 8 and 9 June, expressing a conscious, responsible vote free from any form of conditioning, in the awareness that in a regional context like ours, Calabria holds the sad record of being the region with the highest number of municipalities dissolved due to the mafia, the vote represents an important weapon against the mafias, and in particular against the ‘ndrangheta. The abstention, not acting is not meaningless but means accepting existing relations of domination. And in some contexts – Libera glosses – these relations of domination are governed by the ‘Ndrangheta».
