In Bergamo the League loses 10% of its mayors: “Something bordering on dramatic has happened”

At Andrea Pezzotta’s electoral point on Monday (June 10), two members of the Northern League sat under the screen staring at their cell phones and reading the rosary of the Municipalities that their party was losing along the way. The tone ranged from dismayed to surprised: count after count, defeats came in towns administered for decades, the one with the mayor-senator, the one with the first citizen and former regional councilor, and Pontida with its thirty-year memories of flags, proclamations and Celtic helmets. «Of course, Pontida is the one that hurts the most because it is symbolic and there was the former friendly fire, but we lost over 10% of the municipalities we administered in one fell swoopit’s difficult to find something positive on a day like this”, comments the provincial manager of local authorities Cristian Invernizzi.

The party presented itself with 44 mayoral candidates. In addition to Pontida, Martinengo, Grumello, Misano, Sarnico, Rogno, Bonate Sopra, Valbrembo, Azzano and Chignolo lowered the Northern League flag. «Let’s stop here with the list – implores the provincial secretary Fabrizio Sala -. We lost in places where no one expected it, historic municipalities with a continuity of years.” «These are surprising results – continues Invernizzi -. I know the mayors and they are good administrators, but when you lose that much it means that something bordering on dramatic has happened. We will need to find ourselves in the provincial board of directors and understand how it was possible.” The national manager of local authorities, Stefano Locatelli, does not go too far: “We need to understand where we went wrong but the citizens are always right.” There are two reasons, according to Sala, who has just been re-elected mayor of Telgate for the third time: «The first is that there have been splits in the coalition, which by dividing the votes favors the opponents. It happened in Azzano, in Sarnico, in Grumello, in Martinengo. In Pontida there was a heavy campaign with the attempt to insult the League and they succeeded. The most surprising result is that of Bergamo, there was something that didn’t work in the party machine.” The second reason, according to Sala, is that “every five years there is a generational change, new citizens go to vote and things change”. For the secretary, the results must not be considered a rejection of Salvini’s policy: «In the League these are issues that are discharged at the Political and European level, in the Municipalities you vote for the person, so much so that in the Administrative elections we have always doubled the national results. Now we need to make serious reflections on the territory, stop being the absolute protagonists and involve as many people as possible.”

It is precisely here that a deeper malaise emerges, according to a manager: «The lists increasingly lack quality. Once upon a time there were many militants who worked hard, who wanted to run for office and then carry out even small propaganda in bars to talk to people. Now we are in an identity crisis, the militants are disheartened and all these people are no longer there. It can also be seen in the daily activity of militancy, a few years ago forty parties were organized in a summer, today there will be seven or eight. And this affects the quality of the lists. Once upon a time you put the motivated ones and then three or four to fill the list. Now the relationship has reversed. But it’s a problem that doesn’t just concern us: the Democratic Party is in the same situation.” The defeats, according to the manager, should not put the seat of the provincial secretary at risk: “It’s true that a lot has been lost here, but less than in other provinces.” It is also necessary to understand how Robert Vannacci’s candidacy was received: «The militant who is also an administrator certainly did not vote for him – says the manager – while the sympathizer, who perhaps has been voting for the League for twenty years, instead in many cases yes.”
Invernizzi confirms this: «Vannacci certainly does not represent the typical Northern League candidate and the Bergamo militant was not particularly enthusiastic. He received 13,000 preferences, a good result but not a plebiscite.” In the end Invernizzi finds something positive: «There was the round-the-clock confirmation of Francesco Bramani in Dalmine, not simple because he had been contested by some allies, the victory of Albino and then in countertrend Brignano, Arcene with a civic and the whole Low except Misano, with Fontanella winning with 89.72% of the votes.”

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