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It seems that inside the Trentini nel Mondo association there are some things wrong. I am reporting it Roberto Paccher, Mirko Bisesti and Stefania Segnana provincial councilors of the league who present a question to the Council.
According to the three councilors, in fact, the elective assembly of April 20th would not have been regular. For this reason, in the interrogative document the council is asked whether it appears that several members have been suspended (a method of treatment of members not provided for in the Statute or the Regulations) before the Assembly; if it appears that these people have been physically prevented from participating in the Assembly; if it appears that there were irregularities at the time of the vote in relation to the use of proxies.
If these profiles of illegitimacy were confirmed, the province would have to intervene to protect the Trentini nel Mondo Association as well as all the members who adhere to this body in good faith, from Italy and abroad, and the funds allocated to it in case it were confirmed the situation described and therefore the presence of illegitimately elected management bodies. We will see what action the Council intends to take.
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The Trentini nel Mondo Association has been operating since 1957 with the aim of social solidarity and as a tool for aggregation and assistance for Trentino migrants and their descendants. For these purposes it receives over 800,000 euros annually of public contributions of various kinds, of which the largest contributor is the Autonomous Province of Trento.
In fact, in 2023 alone, the Association collected over 770,000 euros from the Province, by virtue of the provisions of provincial law no. 12/2000 which regulates interventions in favor of Trentino citizens who have emigrated abroad and their descendants. The contributions are intended for the association’s management costs, association activities, as well as solidarity interventions (management costs, subsidies and study allowances) and some financing of specific projects.
The Statute of the Trentini nel Mondo Association provides for admission as members both individual natural persons and other ODV and ETS, and as supporters without the right to vote also public bodies (municipalities and valley communities) and private individuals; Trentini clubs and bodies and associations based abroad can also join the Association, with the same objectives as Trentini nel Mondo.
From a formal point of view, in case of situations that do not comply with the aims of the Association, a member’s request for membership may receive denial with adequate reasons by the Board of Directors (and in this case the member can appeal against the decision and the final decision then rests with the Assembly), or a member can lose his qualification due to death, withdrawal, arrears or exclusion.
In particular, the Statute provides the Board of Directors with the possibility of deciding on the exclusion of a member “for unworthiness and in all cases in which a member damages or in any case carries out acts capable of damaging the good name or activity of the Association.” (Article 10). Also in this case the member can appeal to the Assembly.
In the introduction to the document, the 3 councilors of the league denounce that in recent months, a fair number of members of the Association have been “suspended” (an option not foreseen either by the Statute or by the Implementing Regulation) by Board of Directors after having been admitted by resolution of the same only a few days earlier.
This operation takes place in the weeks preceding the Annual Assembly of 20 April which in the case of the current year also included the renewal of elective positions.
This group of people, not receiving justifications nor responses beyond the letter of communication of the aforementioned “suspension”, they resorted to the action of a lawyer to request compliance with the Statute and the Regulations, the restoration of their membership status or, as a last resort, that their appeal be brought in the Assembly.
However, from the reports received from the councillors, it appears that theAssociazione Trentini nel Mondo not only did not respond in accordance with the provisions of the Statute and Regulations, nor allowed the appeal in the Assembly, but even physically prevented such people from participating in the Assembly, thus also denying the right to vote (and possible candidacy for elective positions) to members duly welcomed by resolution of the board of directors.
These shareholders would also have been denied access to and consultation of the company books as required by the Articles of Associationor same (Article 9).
Furthermore, from subsequent reports, it would appear that during the meeting some irregularities occurred at the time of voting, in relation to the voting method via proxy; this option, provided for by the Regulation (article 21) allows each member to be able to vote by delegating another member (no more than one proxy per delegated member is permitted) with a proxy drawn up in written form, signed and accompanied by the delegating party’s identity document.
If this discipline has not been respected there is a serious violation of the pillars of the functioning of the Trentini nel Mondo Association (Statute and Regulations), as well as of the principle of democracy and pluralism which the Association inspires, as indicated in the Statute (article 3).
Given these premises, the three councilors of the league fear being able to create a profile of illegitimacy not only of the conduct of the last meeting and the related votes, but also of the election of the governing bodies which took place on that occasion and therefore of the entire current management of the Trentini nel Mondo Association.
The premise concludes by explaining that «it is therefore legitimate to ask that the Province of Trento must carry out a verification and control action on what happened, also to protect the destination of the huge resources assigned by its budget to the Association, as well as to protect all members who in good faith join this body, from Italy and abroad”.
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