“The contribution of the center-left and the Democratic Party was decisive in electing Alessandro Mager”. So they rejoice Cristian Quesada, provincial secretary of the Democratic Party e Fulvio Fellegara, candidate for Mayor in the first round for the centre-left coalition, commenting on the victory in the run-off of Alessandro Mager on Gianni Rolando, supported by the centre-right.
Cristian Quesada, provincial secretary of the Democratic Party
Was the support of the Democratic Party and the center-left decisive?
“I think we had the task of trying to do everything possible to achieve two results. The first, certainly, is to try to give answers to those who supported us in the first round and that they found within the proposal Alexander Mager had a broad conviction that parts of our program were useful for relaunching this city. The second is to try to stop the wave of the center-rightas happened throughout Italy and also in Sanremo, trying to experience what will certainly be a cohesive start to administration And with a centre-left component inside, represented by Fulvio Fellegara”.
As regards the component within the council, Mager held back a bit on this hypothesis, however, are you convinced that there could be a place for you within the council?
“It is clear that this it will be Mager’s choice. Mager has one belief, which is that the support of the center-left in recent days has guaranteed his becoming mayor. He took some clear commitments on the program. He will decide in the next few days how he wants to move. We did not do it on the basis of an agreement, as has been said, of intrigues or armchairs. We intended to carry forward our electoral program. Fulvio Fellegara has said it several times, this is certainly the first objective. How he wants to decline this thing will obviously be up to him to decide.”
And what about the internal clashes within the Democratic Party over support for Mager? Did you expect it?
“Internal clashes? THEThe Democratic Party of Sanremo ultimately decided unanimously to support this choice. If there was then some voices out of the chorus, today the fact is absolutely denied. Basically it was decided who was right about this type of operation and this choice: The Sanremo Democratic Party and certainly not those who did not share this choice, given the results”.
Fulvio Fellegara
“I am happy that the city listened to our voting address and that once again it followed what we indicated. It means that there was a part of the city that trusted before and continues to trust today what we say. We gave the reasons when we expressed that opinion: there was a right-wing party that in our opinion needed to be contained and that became the priority. Even more so after that same right-wing party in Rome voted to divide Italy through differentiated autonomy. Even more so than criticisms we have made in this election campaign on healthcare which was destroyed at a regional level by those very people centre-right parties. We thought that a social and political priority was to set a barrier in these terms.
The second priority we had placed was on programs and we got reassurances that chand a substantial part of the topics we have posed, and on which 5000 people have placed their trust in us, certifying that we have reasons and that we represent an important force to be reckoned with, will be applied in the event that Alessandro Mager had won. So, convergence on the program and the general political vision also in the medium-long term led us to give an indication which it was precise And transparent, and most people get it.”
On the criticism you received for the alliance with Scajola-Toti?
“At that time, meanwhile the alliance is not with Scajola and Toti, the alliance was programmatic with the Mager coalition. Political criticism was taken into account, it exists, it is part of the game in a tough electoral campaign, we knew it would not be missing. I have broad shoulders and I knew I would receive them and was ready to tolerate them. What I think has gone too far are the personal attacks, violent from a verbal and content point of view, towards me. The use also of flyers at a time when they would have been prohibited because we were in the electoral silence, denigrating phrases in denigrating leafletsthe. There the mark was crossed and there was no one from the centre-right party who put a stop to this aspect. Indeed, it went unnoticed from their point of view. I have to say it was an own goal, because in the following hours many people called me and said: ‘So you were right, these people cannot govern Sanremo’. So there was a response that amplified the meaning of what we were saying. I was sorry about this. I am convinced that they could not be happy with our position, I had taken it into account, I had also taken a reaction into account. It is clear that in a political battle there are also reactions that could be taken into account.”
Even within the PD?
“Of course, the beauty of political dialectics is that there are different opinions. In a coalition as varied as ours, it was certain that there would be. We chose by majority vote, we never denied that there was no unanimity on our position. A choice has been made responsibility, which is precisely to provide a barrier and a choice of future programming, trying to give an answer to the people who voted for us”.
One last thing: are you asking for a seat on the council now? Mager is a bit hesitant about this possibility.
“We have asked for the application of the program and we will discuss this. Then, how this application will be implemented will be the subject of discussion in the next few hours. We asked for nothing before and we expect nothing now. Evidently, the comparison from this point of view will also be on the table in the next few days. Now whoever decides is the new mayor, to whom I have not yet told, I wish and congratulate him on his good work”.
