For Fratelli d’Italia, the defeat in the Bari municipal elections is one of those that sting. It stings the local leaders, who do not drag the party beyond a modest 11.1%, but above all the regional coordinator and undersecretary Marcello Gemmato, who continues to rack up defeats in the eternal derby with Raffaele Fitto, who is increasingly master of the party. So much so that many militants, disappointed by Gemmato’s management, are starting to push for the election of a “collegial and shared” regional secretariat.
Gemmato-Melchiorre knockout
The result of the Bari municipal elections smacks of defeat for Gemmato and his associate, Senator Filippo Melchiorre. Fratelli d’Italia, in fact, did not go beyond 11.1% of the votes. Of course, the result is better than that of the 2019 municipal elections, when the Melonians achieved a paltry 3.2. At the time, however, Fratelli d’Italia was not the leading Italian party and did not represent the Prime Minister. This is why, especially the first-time militants, they did not understand or share the choices of the Gemmato-Melchiorre duo in Bari. Any examples? Months and months of inconclusive tactics and, in the end, the refusal to express both the mayoral candidate (among other things to the benefit of the League) and the president of the first city municipality (to the advantage of Massimo Cassano’s UDC). It didn’t go any better in the Bari area, where Giovanni Mastrangelo’s confirmation wasn’t enough to erase the poor impressions made in Putignano, Santeramo and Rutigliano.
Thick as King Midas
While Gemmato and Melchiorre suffer defeats, Fitto seems to have become like King Midas. Everything he touches turns to gold. After years of tension, the minister made peace with Adriana Poli Bortone and supported her candidacy for the leadership of the Municipality of Lecce: an apt choice, unlike the one made by Gemmato and Melchiorre in Bari. Previously, Fitto had managed to make elect two loyalists like Francesco Ventola and Chiara Gemma to the European Parliament, with Gemmato capable of bringing only Michele Picaro to Strasbourg. Even before that, on the occasion of the Apulian provincial congresses, Fitto had won the derby with Gemmato 5-1, placing his men at the helm of the party in Foggiano, Bat, Brindisino, Tarantino and Salento.
The future
Now the ball passes to Giorgia Meloni. She will decide whether or not to revolutionize the party leaders in Puglia. The Prime Minister has already shown that she blindly trusts Fitto, so much so that she has entrusted him with a key role in the government and has now supported his nomination as European Commissioner. At the same time, however, Meloni is linked to Gemmato by an ancient friendship. The mood of the rank and file could be decisive, as they are now less than enthusiastic about the undersecretary: «Others, in Gemmato’s place, would have already resigned – comments one of the many disappointed by the epochal defeat – Enough with the lone man in command. We need a regional, collegial and shared secretariat that opens up the party and rewards merit. In Puglia we cannot continue to lose a few, to protect someone’s position, instead of opening ourselves up to everyone to win.”
