Strategic and communication errors decreed the failure and therefore the defeat of the center-right coalition led by Cosentino
VIBO VALENTIA – You think you’re a Ferrari on the eve of the elections, you throw out proclamations of victory even in the first round, as was the case in the last two elections, but then the numbers bring you back to the harsh reality and you discover that you’ve run out of gas.
It is a bitter and painful defeat suffered by the coalition that supported Roberto Cosentino as mayor of the city. Burning because if the first round – which in any case had not been exciting – had still given first place to the party, the run-off resulted in a defeat that the centre-right had not known since 2005, 19 years ago. Painful because with this result, the political area in government of the country, region and province ends up handing over to the progressives what was until yesterday the last capital, its bastion.
It would be easy to place the blame on Roberto Cosentino but it would be extremely unfair. The mayoral candidate found himself catapulted into an arena which he had initially hesitated to enter only to then backtrack following the reassurances of the leaders of the Forza Italia party. He was made official only a couple of months after the vote; he did what he could, but on some occasions he made mistakes: errors in the communication campaign: the interviews on boats and in cabriolets while there was even no water in the hamlets certainly didn’t help him; as well as the celebrations which gave a part of the population the feeling of exclusive events. And then the ghost of Maria Limardo who accompanied him throughout the electoral campaign. We repeat, in our opinion, the faults of the 52-year-old former regional manager are residual compared to those of his sponsors, starting with Tonino Daffinà and Michele Comito who focused on him after having set aside the outgoing Limardo, because of that “famous ” survey which would have seen her clearly behind Romeo, due to the mess of the New Theater and the people’s dissatisfaction with the simultaneous opening of the construction sites. Circumstances that had alarmed the two managers who, however, if on the one hand were working for a change on the other, at least Comito with official declarations, confirmed (and this until the first months of 2024) their trust in the lawyer from Vibo. This is why this is above all the defeat of the two leading exponents of the blue party which at this point will have to start an internal reflection for a choice that did not pay off. And Mangialavori? The story is a little more different: his stay behind the scenes in the first round was contrasted with marked activism in the following 15 days. And this is because the intention is clear, after having been downsized, to take back the party, starting in Vibo. Naturally, the person directly involved will never admit it, and this is not surprising, but it is a widespread opinion that there are frictions within the local blue world and then that those 600 votes difference in the first round between Cosentino and the lists come in large part by voters in his area. An area that brought at least two of its representatives to the Council: Corrado (by popular acclaim) and Calabria (which will take the place of Cosentino, who will return to the Region). Clearly he too is not free from blame. Among other things, precisely those 600 votes allowed Romeo to overcome Muzzopappa and now achieve victory.
However, new opportunities can arise from defeats. The center-left knows something about this. And today he celebrates.
