It is 5pm sharp: Vito Leccese, new mayor of Bari after having triumphed with 70.27% of the votes in the run-off on Sunday 23 and Monday 24 June, appears before his electoral committee in via Argiro, in the heart of the city. Among applause, trumpets and invocations, he delivers his first speech after the electoral success which saw him dominate as the frontman of the centre-left. Leccese more than doubled the centre-right candidate Fabio Romito, stopping at 29.73% of the preferences: “It is said – he states, addressing the cameras and supporters – that I will be the mayor of everyone but I would like to be the mayor of all those who have felt neglected, who did not participate in the vote because they no longer believe in the power of politics over their own future. I would like to be the mayor of these citizens because I would like to restore their trust in the institutions.”
Leccese, with at his side the last two mayors of the city, namely Antonio Decaro and Michele Emiliano, as well as the now former opponent of the ‘primaries that were not’, Michele Laforgia, an ally in this ballot, spoke of fair play and collaboration for Romito, who shortly before had spoken from his electoral committee: “I appreciated – said Leccese – his phone call in which he acknowledged defeat after the counting of the first 10 electoral sections. He wished me good luck in my work. I appreciated this gesture because in the 15 days preceding the ballot the tone had become very high. There had been positions aimed at demolishing my person and the coalition of lists that I represented in this campaign. I was pointed out as a representative of a system. Instead, the Lecce ‘system’ won, which is full of life, community, energy and fresh, clean forces to recompose a dialectical and ordinary relationship in the exclusive interest of the city”.
So, the summary of his future political action in one word, temperance: “It will be the guiding principle of my administration and of the relationship with the opposition”. Leccese then expressed numerous thanks, including those for Michele Laforgia: “He forced me – Leccese joked – to go through a somewhat tiring electoral campaign, especially that of the first round. In light not only of the closeness and political commonality, and of the over thirty years of friendship that binds us, in the last few weeks towards the run-off it has loyally supported me and allowed everyone to find ourselves in the same coalition, made up of ideals and values that will inspire us in the government of this city”. A journey, for Leccese, “that we will all continue together. The community of progressives and people from Bari. The city does not want to go back and for this reason, we are going”. A complete success for the centre-left in Bari, which will have, as underlined by Leccese, “five women presidents of municipalities”. The en-plein was in fact completed today with the successes of Luisa Verdoscia for Municipality III and Maristella Morisco for Municipality V.
Embracing Vito Leccese was a moved Antonio Decaro, just elected MEP, who applauded his successor: “It’s Vito’s victory. He will be a good mayor and he is the one with the most votes in the history of this city. He will be the one right and will be able to take responsibility for this electoral success. He will protect a community that has grown and become prouder in recent years. The mayor didn’t even want to do it for 20 years. To further underline the success of the centre-left, the governor of Puglia, Michele Emiliano: “It is a great satisfaction – he remarks – for all the people of Bari and for me personally, for the victory of a man who I have had close to me for many years and whom I respect It is a day of joy because there will be five years of good governance for this city.” For the member of the Democratic Party Marco Lacarra, from Lecce: “He will be a great mayor because he has an extraordinary human profile. He has grace, irony and smiles. Until last night we exchanged jokes with a serenity and an expectation of the result almost at the limit of ‘recklessness. I have seen tense mayoral candidates, but he has maintained the aplomb that distinguishes his character.”
