Since the left fails to shake off the loser syndrome – even at the European Championships there was a beating – the next candidate for the presidency of the Region, for the progressive camp, can only be a luxury ‘loser’: Cateno De Luca. The mayor of Taormina and leader of the opposition to the ARS, by his own admission, failed in his party’s national clearance action (1.22 percent overall), however he maintained a good average compared to the votes attributed to the his list from the Sicilians: out of the 115 thousand preferences for Freedom, 69 thousand were “his”.
In an interview with ‘La Sicilia’ he said he did better than Meloni – again based on the relationship between personal preferences and list votes – however De Luca knows very well that he has abandoned, once and for all, the aspiration of becoming the mayor of Italy. The most famous of the De Lucas will remain Vincenzo, governor of Campania and a thorn in the prime minister’s side (whom he called a “bitch”), while Scateno is already in his second flop after the Supplementary elections for the Senate of Monza and Brianza, which seen ranking in third place, but very far from the other two (Adriano Galliani and Marco Cappato).
Autonomy in Deluchian style It doesn’t work, it’s not attractive. And if we really wanted to rely on the numbers, we would have to talk about a downward trend on the island too. De Luca got half a million votes in the last Regionals, even if it would not be correct to compare that result to this. Yet there are those who suggest that the only fiefdom of the leader of South Calls North remains Messina, where for three and a half years he worked as mayor before running for the Region. Cateno, however, is in the game and remains there, because the opposition to the Ars – even if not officially – have recognized his role as a guiding spirit with respect to the problems and issues in the classroom: De Luca’s preparation, from the administrative and accounting, there is no discussion. Add the energy of the mummer and you will get an explosive mixture, perhaps the only one capable of calling into question the current nonchalance with which Schifani governs the island and the Sicilian right dominates in all electoral competitions.
De Luca, however, is someone who keeps going on his way, even if in view of 2027 he has already offered his opposition comrades in Palermo a solution to avoid arguing: the primaries. “Let’s measure ourselves, but at least a year before the vote. An electoral campaign will have to begin from the summer of 2026 in which we will present the program and the complete government team to the Sicilians,” he told ‘La Sicilia’. Adding: “I also have sympathy and respect from centre-right voters and I bring the possibility of gaining votes from the other side as an added value.” The objective is the usual: abandon the acronyms and defeat the parties in government. Although the support of M5s and Pd, in this case, will be fundamental. Will they accept the challenge of the primaries or will they be reduced to favoring their own backyard as happened on the eve of the Regionals in September 2022, when the result of the internal competition within the coalition (with Chinnici’s victory) became waste paper?
In fact, M5s and Pd are veterans from a tortured competition with morale in the doldrums. Only the secretary of the Democratic Party Barbagallo, with a pinch of historical revisionism, has ascertained that the Sicilian result of the Dems (although ten points below the national average) is not as embarrassing as the experts portray it: “We have grown by two points compared to to the latest Policies”, is the mantra. Even if at the last political elections, in fact, it was almost tearing one’s hair out. The 5 Star Movement doesn’t do any better, on the contrary. At this time the only pride is being the first anti-centre-right party. But what’s the point if hundreds of thousands of votes (and around fifteen percentage points) have been lost compared to the European elections five years ago? If the Democratic Party and Five Star are able to remove the ham from their eyes and seriously analyze their failure, they should pepper De Luca with calls and have himself taken to safety as soon as possible.
But it’s difficult for two movements so proud to compromise. In the Democratic Party everyone started looking for justifications and countermeasures. The doctor Bartolo, who did not obtain the expected response from the polls, continues to gnaw and put the ruling class in his sights, as if the only cause to be supported was his: “I am disappointed because my work was not valued. It’s humiliating,” he told Repubblica. “I am saddened because I worked hard here, I left my family, my job, to commit to this adventure. I don’t feel betrayed, but the party could have done a little more for me.” A little something extra for everyone. But what has really been missing is the party which, apart from the steadfast Giuseppe Lupo, continues to propose civic solutions which do not have much to do with the life of the party and in which the militants (fewer and fewer) do not recognize themselves. It also happened for Lidia Tilotta.
The Democrats were even capable of resurrecting Leoluca Orlando, five-time mayor of Palermo, who had insistently asked Elly Schlein to nominate him. Nothing, the phone was busy. Thus Orlando, shriveled up by time and weakened by the poor results obtained at the helm of Italy’s fifth city, found support in the Greens and in the Avs list, obtaining the seat in Brussels despite having scored 18 thousand preferences. Few but enough to give a raspberry to former colleagues. Now he enjoys the triumph as a reviving player, rejoicing like the former players do who score a goal, as an opponent, in the first derby.
Among the Five Stars – who still managed to achieve a result above the national average (‘it didn’t take that long’, you might say) – self-criticism is a matter of disuse. But there isn’t even the ritual passing the buck. Self-absolution is preferred. The regional spokesperson Nuccio Di Paola is thrilled by the 240 thousand preferences that have allowed the Movement to be “the first party among the alternative forces to the right” (what color is the medal?). The Ars group leader Antonio De Luca, toasting with the only elected member (Giuseppe Antoci) declared that “the trust you have placed once again in the M5S Sicily, for us is a stimulus for new and ambitious projects always for the benefit of the Sicilians ”. In short, we can start from scratch: with the hair test, with the blue cars, with the no-Bridge protests. Issues which, as highlighted by the vote last Saturday and Sunday, have “paid”.
Here, for two parties like this something else would be needed. Maybe a reversal of the direction of travel. Perhaps the search for new and authoritative representatives who will facilitate the process of restarting (the Democratic Party will limit itself to a discussion in the Directorate to acknowledge that time has expired, and perhaps to a conference later). Or, in the absence of ideas, a nice progressive meatloaf to try to get away with it at the next Regionals. It is likely that he will go like this, with Scateno at the helm. A luxury loser as savior of the country.
