In Bari, mayor of the center-left Vito Leccese, in Lecce mayor of the center-right Adriana Poli Bortone. Leccese wins by a landslide with 70.28%, Poli Bortone wins with 50.69%, with a suspenseful ending. For just 643 votes of detachment from Salvemini, she climbs the steps of Palazzo Carafa as tenant.
Vito Leccese had the notable contribution of Michele Laforgia in the runoff, whose candidacy for mayor had had a good electoral performance, but he came third: Vito Leccese first and Fabio Romito second, a carry-over Northern League member and centre-right candidate for mayor. It is worth reflecting, in general, on the centre-right, whose electoral strength does not express an attractive and competitive local ruling class compared to that of the centre-left. The fact is that in the six regional capitals where the vote was held, the centre-left’s success was clear without a shadow of a doubt. It must also be said that the centre-right holds thanks to the popularity of Giorgia Meloni.
In Bari, there was no match, beyond the effort of the centre-right, mobilizing half the government team and the diligent commitment of the young, but already experienced, Fabio Romito. Twenty points behind Leccese is no small feat. The center-right and Romito could have done nothing against the firepower of four expert artillerymen: Decaro, Emiliano, Laforgia and Leccese. To achieve their breakthrough victory, they saw everything and more. The “Internal Code” investigation by the Bari prosecutor’s office which led to 130 arrests for the mafia. Among these there were names of politicians: the former regional councilor Olivieri and his wife Maria Carmen Lorusso, now a former municipal councilor elected from the centre-right ranks and then moved to the centre-left. Which is why the Minister of the Interior took action and appointed an access commission to verify the hypothesis of dissolution of the Municipality of Bari, due to mafia infiltration. It does not end here. Because after a few days a new investigation, again by the Bari prosecutor’s office, brought to light a system of votes bought for 50 euros and paid to voters registered in good lists for each electoral event. Among those under investigation is Anita Maurodinoia, transport councilor of the regional council, who had to resign.
From justice to elections. For the centre-left, two candidacies for mayor. Leccese and Laforgia, who after much back and forth, did not find an agreement on who would be the candidate for mayor, after which we moved on to the primaries. However, these failed, due to Laforgia supported by the 5S leader Conte, both worried that they would be contaminated by the presence of “malacarni” at the vote. Then Conte raised the flag of the moral question with all the annexes and related issues, to the point of making the proposal of the Pact of Legality including the appointment of a team of inspectors to prevent malfeasance. Whereupon, Emiliano – despite himself – approved and reshuffled the council with this stigma. In the end, after useless mediations and a third name out of Vendola’s hat, the center-left nominated Leccese and the progressive area Laforgia for mayor. The events of June 24th have been mentioned above.
In Lecce, Adriana Poli Bortone was elected mayor in 1998 and repeated her victory in 2002. After various experiences as minister, MEP and national parliamentarian, she ran for the third time, narrowly winning over the centre-left candidate, Carlo Salvemini , supported by the war machine of Michele Emiliano’s Puglia region. The honor of arms and more goes to the outgoing mayor, whose management of public affairs has been of good profile, probably, the Gramscian “sentimental connection” with the people of Lecce has been missing. However, the City of Sant’Oronzo preferred the classic “safe used” version of Poli Bortone, of which it had appreciated the merits and accepted the defects. Let’s face it, Salvemini lost in the confrontation with a political corsair, tough, empathetic, heretic to dogmas, to schemes and a free fighter for decades, since she refused, in 2009, to join the Freedom Party by not participating in the Congress and had the courage to found the «Io Sud» movement, with which he waged his political battles. Whose list was present in the centre-right coalition acquiring the result of 8%, while FdI took just 10%.
With the election of Adriana Poli Bortone the Ionian political landscape of Salento has changed to the detriment of the centre-left: Brindisi Marchionna and Lecce Poli Bortone center-right mayors and in Taranto Melucci from the centre-left to «fritto misto di paranza». Emiliano must deal with it.
The Lecce municipal games had two halves: the first soft round with a lot of far play between Poli Bortone and Salvemini. By a handful of 26 votes, Poli Bortone did not pass in the first round, leaving poisonous consequences for the continuation of the electoral campaign. This unexpected success of the centre-right, although missed by a week, and, due to the unexpected failure of the centre-left, ignited the spirits of the two sides beyond measure. The second half: the ballot was all played on hard, on the white heat clash and in the key of «who are you? who am I?” – to nothing of the invocation of Saint Francis on the Verna mountain – politics has not given its best. Lecce cannot be divided into two opposing electoral blocks. The Guelphs, on one side, the Ghibellines, on the other side.
Lecce demands something else from the mayor Poli Bortone, as well as from the opposition leader Salvemini: the ambition to move forward with a reconciled citizenry and as a place of excellence, culture, tourism and investments. And we hope that the mayor Andria Poli Bortone will not disappoint in this respect.
