“It is very likely that there will be no surprises in the run-off, here in Florence the fear of the black man has created an unshakeable system of power, a system of mere preservation of a ruling class”. Cecilia Del Re, candidate for mayor of the democratic Florence civic listcollected in the first round, running alone, 6.2 percent. Del Re is a former councilor of the Nardella council, who left the Democratic Party after the decision, endorsed by the national leaders, not to call the primaries for the choice of the candidate for mayor, imposing the name of another former councilor of Nardella, the most loyal, Sara Funaro. Of the former PD councillors, 12 followed her. “Unfortunately – she vents – the Florentine Democratic Party has become a system of power for power’s sake, without any vision. It is no coincidence that in Schmidt’s civic list there are also former Democratic mayors of the metropolitan area, while in Funaro’s civic list there are two former Lega and FdI councilors. The Democratic Party, aware of the atavistic fear of the Florentines, launched a campaign entirely focused on ‘vote for us, otherwise the right wins’, without any other arguments. It paid off, they got 43 percent, more than the polls predicted, and so to win the ballot they added an adjective ‘vote for us, otherwise the worst right wins’. But if you look at the data in absolute terms you realize that the Democratic Party in Tuscany has lost 100 thousand votes in 5 years, in Florence over 30 thousand”.
“It is very likely that there will be no surprises in the run-off, here in Florence the fear of the black man has created an unshakeable system of power, a system of mere preservation of a ruling class”. Cecilia Del Re, candidate for mayor of the democratic Florence civic listcollected in the first round, running alone, 6.2 percent. Del Re is a former councilor of the Nardella council, who left the Democratic Party after the decision, endorsed by the national leaders, not to call the primaries for the choice of the candidate for mayor, imposing the name of another former councilor of Nardella, the most loyal, Sara Funaro. Of the former PD councillors, 12 followed her. “Unfortunately – she vents – the Florentine Democratic Party has become a system of power for power’s sake, without any vision. It is no coincidence that in Schmidt’s civic list there are also former Democratic mayors of the metropolitan area, while in Funaro’s civic list there are two former Lega and FdI councilors. The Democratic Party, aware of the atavistic fear of the Florentines, launched a campaign entirely focused on ‘vote for us, otherwise the right wins’, without any other arguments. It paid off, they got 43 percent, more than the polls predicted, and so to win the ballot they added an adjective ‘vote for us, otherwise the worst right wins’. But if you look at the data in absolute terms you realize that the Democratic Party in Tuscany has lost 100 thousand votes in 5 years, in Florence over 30 thousand”.
And with Schlein? Has nothing changed? “In Florence Schlein won the primaries 79 percent against the 21 of the Bonaccini motion, a clear sign of a desire for change, but Nothing has changed either on the themes or on the method. During the election campaign there was no talk of a more progressive city or the selling off of real estate assets public, with Florence increasingly driven by private and tourist investments. Even at work there was no reflection, while everything moved on tourisma precarious and low-skilled sector. On the tramwaycriticized by Schmidt, the Democratic Party limited themselves to an official defense, without giving a system perspective with the new tram lines and a circle line as happens in the main European cities”.
Del Re’s votes, together with those of Italia viva’s candidate, the deputy governor of Tuscany Stefania Saccardiare worth almost 14 percent of the Florentines’ preferences, more than the difference between the votes that separate Funaro from the centre-right candidate, the former director of the Uffizi Eike Schmidt. In short, their votes will be decisive for winning the runoff. But Del Re has not yet made it clear who he will vote for. “Our history – he says – belongs to the centre-left and therefore we have not responded to those who called us from the centre-right breakfast. However, they didn’t call us from the Democratic Party, and it was time for a democratic convention and an openness on certain themes and a renewal of methods. Having said this, if the Democratic Party does not provide answers on the many issues we have proposed, neither I nor democratic Florence will provide endorsements, it will mean that the Democratic Party will try, as Funaro said, to win over our voters directly without talking to us. On the other hand, their message is clear: with any program and with any candidate we win, and so there is no room for any self-criticism or serious reflection on the future of the city. The interest in maintaining the status quo prevails.” This is why Del Re chose to run solo: “Without the fear of the boogeyman, the Democratic Party would be in serious difficulty. Around Florence where an alternative has been created from the left, this has already been seen. This type of breakfast reached the ballot in Calenzano or Borgo San Lorenzo, while in other municipalities they directly won in the first round, as happened in Campi”.
