“Prato is not a happy island, it is a city in which the Democratic Party has been able to relaunch itself and offer citizens a valid and credible alternative”. Marco Biagioni, provincial secretary, analyzes the result the day after the vote without hiding an understandable satisfaction. “With a turnout of almost 9,000 people decreasing compared to 2019, the Democratic Party gained 5,426 votes”, he says, claiming the outcome of the polls which gave Ilaria Bugetti the mayor’s band in the first round with over 52% of the votes . A success that made national number two Marco Furfaro say that Prato’s success must become a “national example for the centre-left”.
The political analysis of the vote is also intertwined with party structures: yesterday Biagioni announced that he will not leave the leadership of the Democratic Party as secretary despite his entry into the council now certain and confirmed by the secretary himself. “My exit from the role of secretary is not in question, in Prato we have already had a precedent with Gabriele Bosi who held the double role. Furthermore, in this case it is the party that is asking me to join the council to be the guarantor of a project politician and for this reason I accepted the role”, he says with his gaze inevitably projected towards the 2025 regional elections.
“The latest administrative elections represent a historic novelty – adds Biagioni – The Democratic Party received more votes than in the European elections. Despite the broad coalition we had a great consensus”. Just a brief aside from the secretary on the alliance with the 5 Stars defined by the center-right as a choice of opportunity: “The 5 Stars have made a decisive contribution, as have the other lists”.
Once the celebrations for the mayor Ilaria Bugetti are over, it is already time to get to work awaiting the official investiture which should be today, while yesterday was the last day as regional councilor and president of the economic development commission, a role from which she resigned due to obvious political incompatibility. “Now the serious work begins”, said the new mayor, smiling, clarifying that it is time “to transform the program into government actions starting from a solid base that comes from the legacy left by Biffoni, but above all from the consensus of the polls. I will be the mayor of everyone, even of those who didn’t go to vote”, Bugetti specified, reiterating his commitment and attention to listening without hiding that “it’s not all roses and flowers”, that there is a city that asks answers and that there is still “long and long” work to be done.
Bugetti wants to be everyone’s mayor, but also the trait d’union between the parties and the lists that made up the centre-left coalition: “We have shared a program and we are moving forward on that. It is also the mayor’s job to find the synthesis between the various souls”. Not an easy task, but necessary. The first step will be the formation of the council for which Bugetti has taken a month, then there is the review of the municipal offices and the listening. On the doubts raised by the opposition regarding the agreement with the 5 Stars he cuts short: “Ours was a shared project and a cohesive work, we will demonstrate it along the way”.
Silvia Bini
