The Bologna Democratic Party is seething after a round of ballots that made the territory of the Federation a black shirt in the administrative elections in Emilia-Romagna. While Elly Schlein celebrates in Rome, in the city where she grew up politically and she (re) signed up before climbing the party ladder the Dems are dealing with a negative electoral balance. The defeats of Pianoro and Castel Maggiore, after Molinella, brought the number of municipalities over 15 thousand inhabitants lost to three out of eight. After the first upsets at the hot polls, even from Casalecchio – the only municipality won in the second round – once the celebrations have died down, a political clarification is requested. «A reflection must be opened on what happened, we cannot leave the Democratic Party alone in the province”, says the new mayor Matteo Ruggeri, who asks to convene a management. «I feel deep divisions and little trust among my comrades», adds the Casalecchiese secretary, Alice Morotti. An attrition to which the secretary of the Bologna Democratic Party, Federica Mazzoni, responds by convening the management on 10 July, with the declared objective of «mend and build alliances in view of the regional elections».
The area near Bonaccini is in turmoil
Too soon to say how it will go. Two weeks are enough to dampen tensions and recompose, especially if there are the Regionals – between candidacies to be defined and future departments to be optioned – to act as a buffer. The fact is that the area of the Bologna Democratic Party close to the deputy Andrea De Maria, and therefore to the outgoing governor Stefano Bonaccini, is in turmoil after the outcome of the ballots. «An unacceptable outcome», deputy secretary Matteo Meogrossi defined it after the count. Yesterday, Tuesday 25 June, Matteo Ruggeri, the new mayor of Casalecchio, supported the criticism and the only Dem candidate to emerge from the second round with his head held high.
The criticisms of Casalecchio’s dem secretary
«I am very sorry for the comrades and friends of Castel Maggiore and Pianoro, but compared to what had been narrated – he claims – I think it has clearly emerged that the problem was not the local management of Casalecchio, but a more overall management of the territory: How is it possible that 5 years ago, with a weaker Democratic Party in the European elections, we managed to win in more municipalities and this time it went worse?”. Words that evidently call into question the current leadership of the party. «A signal has arrived that should not be underestimated, the local vote for the first time is going against the negative trend», insists Ruggeri, who asks that a reflection be opened in the Bolognese PD: «Even with the Regional elections just around the corner – he warns – it must be done. The PD of Bologna is not just the city, we cannot leave the province alone.”
A point that Alice Morotti, dem secretary of Casalecchio, is also keen on, ready for an almost certain entry into the Ruggeri council. «Here the Democratic Party was compact and cohesive, apart from those defectors who were a small minority in terms of numbers. Although there were no coalition tables at the Federation level, we built a path that lasted more than a year to achieve victory”, claims Morotti, former member of the provincial secretariat of the dem. But after the defeats of the administrative elections «a comparison must be made. Especially if, in the face of a very united national Democratic Party, “A deep division has been felt here for at least two years.”
Merola in defense of Mazzoni
Former mayor Virginio Merola comes to the defense of secretary Mazzoni. «What happened in the municipalities of the Bolognese area where we lost must make us reflect first of all on the party’s way of doing things and on the need not to be closed in self-referential dynamics», writes the dem deputy, for whom where he got lost «the logic of internal and short-term positions prevailed on the duty to achieve unity. I invite you not to look for pretexts in the secretariat or otherwise – insists Merola – but only in this drift of asphyxiated positions of power”. However, it seems late, or perhaps it is early, for peace. And so Mazzoni summons the Management: but in two weeks, leaving time for the doves to take the place of the hawks. The appointment is July 10 «for a post-consultation political analysis in view of the regional elections”. «It is essential to open a discussion – says Mazzoni – because the positive results of the Democratic Party must be made available and listened to to solve problems, mend and build alliances in view of the regional elections»
