After 10 years Potenza leaves a centre-right government at home: Telesca wins. The approval of the law on differentiated autonomy would have weighed heavily
POTENZA – What mattered, even for a piece of the centre-right, was to “untie” Potenza. And so it was. The former Democrat – Renzian Vincenzo Telesca will therefore be at the helm of the capital municipality for the next 5 years. While the Northern League member Francesco Fanelli will return to being an alternate regional councilor.
It is an unequivocal verdict that came from the counting of the vote on Sunday and yesterday morning in the 77 electoral sections of Potenza. An expected verdict, yes, but not in these terms and not with a turnout like this: 54% against a national average of 47%. Despite a drop from the 69% in the first round.
In short, the concern that has spread in recent days over the approval of the law on the differentiated autonomy of the regions may have weighed heavily. It is not for nothing that at the end of the electoral campaign Telesca’s supporters pushed hard to politicize the ballot, transforming it into a sort of citizen referendum on the Northern League’s manifesto law. A fortunate change of strategy, after having focused for weeks on the alleged responsibilities of Fanelli, the outgoing regional councilor for health, with respect to the problems of Lucanian healthcare.
The settling of scores within the centre-right coalition, and in particular the Melonians, certainly had repercussions: they were almost absent even at the closing with great fanfare of Fanelli’s electoral campaign. Important consequences if we consider that in the regional elections of 21 and 22 April 60% of the people of Potenza had chosen the centre-right.
In favor of Telesca, already elected municipal councilor in 2014 and 2019 with the Democratic Party, before moving to Italy alive and joining the Misto group, 19,733 people from Potenza spoke out, equal to 64.92% of the 30,400 who decided to go to the polls .
Compared to the first round, when he was supported by the majority of the Democratic Party and by various civic and centrist forces, the new mayor completed his comeback over Fanelli, leading him by almost 30% of the votes. With an increase of over seven thousand votes in his personal electoral spoils, already inflated due to the disjointed vote, two weeks ago, thanks to the migration of around 2,500 votes from the centre-right lists. Equal to 5% of the total of those expressed.
The outgoing regional health councilor, however, dropped from 15,416 votes (40.6%) to 10,665 (35.08%), losing 5 thousand. Almost double the number lost 5 years ago by the outgoing mayor and fellow party member, Mario Guarente, who dropped from 18,004 to 16,248, but still won the slot by 200 votes ahead of his challenger Valerio Tramutoli, who from the former’s 11,034 votes shift rose to 16,048.
“The attempt to bring the progressive camp together worked.” This is one of the first comments on the result of Telesca’s ballot, who in the last 5 years has been in opposition to the Guarente administration while in the previous 5 he was part of the hybrid majority of the “lame duck” Dario De Luca, candidate from Fratelli d ‘Italy and elected mayor, but without the numbers to manage the city council.
The newly elected mayor highlighted the boost he received from the agreement with two of the other three mayoral candidates who did not pass the first round: Pierluigi Smaldone, supported by a mini-coalition led by the M5s and the Greens; and Francesco Giuzio of La Basilicata Possible. An unexpected agreement after Telesca’s no to the formal alliance requested by the two former rivals, to access the distribution of the 20 seats of the majority prize.
Both, in fact, have decided to support the new mayor in exchange for a series of programmatic concessions and the promise of positions in the next municipal council. As well as the presidency of the city council.
«The citizens – explained Telesca – appreciated this union that we managed to create with the other two mayoral candidates, Francesco Giuzio and Pierluigi Smaldone. Now it’s up to us to give life to this center-left that can somehow continue to block the right and especially the Northern League which was the only city in the south where he governed.”
Telesca also responded on the profile of the councilors who will be part of his team.
«We will build a council based on merit and we will give immediate answers on the planning and services that this city lacks», he assured. “In the next five years we will work for a different city of Potenza than the one the League left us.”
However, Fanelli, chosen to lead the center-right after the mutiny of parts of the coalition against Guarente’s encore, highlighted the troubled genesis of his candidacy. Pezzi would have preferred the candidacy of a Melonian such as the outgoing regional councilor for Agriculture, Alessandro Galella, or the regional coordinator of Noi Moderati, as well as former president of the Potenza city council, Francesco Cannizzaro.
In any case, almost everyone was present at the committee of the defeated candidate yesterday, and the possibility of an appeal to the TAR to “cripple” Telesca by depriving him of the majority in the council would also have ended up on the table. Asking that those twenty seats be assigned to the centre-right coalition which in the first round, in the list vote, exceeded 50%.
Five years ago, even when the coalition supporting Guarente had exceeded 50% in the list vote, there had been no need. Given the outcome of the ballot.
Five years later, however, it might be worth trying, given the different orientations expressed in this regard, even in recent times, by the administrative judiciary.
