ALESSANDRIA – The first rumours came out six months ago. In mid-March the reshuffle seemed done (an emblematic photo posted on social media of a dinner during a break in a city council meeting, ed.) then the European and regional elections froze all negotiations. Yesterday the mayor of Alessandria, George Abonantebroke through, announcing a new council by Sunday “consistent with the challenges that await us.”
The drastic move of withdrawing the delegations of all the councilors has surprised but, almost certainly, a part of the team that accompanied the mayor in the first two years of the legislature will be confirmed. Four probable new features: the first concerns the role of deputy mayorintended for John Barosini. The current president of the City Council represented the third force in the last local elections and, in the run-off, declared his support for the centre-left coalition, guaranteeing three more votes for the centre-left in this first part of the legislature. Now the former Councilor for Public Works of the Cuttica Council is ready to sit next to the mayor in the city council chamber: not to the right of him (on the highest seat belonging to the president of the assembly, ed.) but to his left, elbow to elbow, and above all, during the council meetings.
Barosini’s entry could cause a split in the majority, with the farewell of the exponent of the 5 Star Movement Michelangelo Serra. Emblematic, in this sense, is the statement made by the Five Star Movement representative yesterday at the end of the last council meeting: “We ask that the mayor, with all the parties of the coalition, ask for a discussion with the citizens so as not to frustrate the common project for which we were chosen”. In the city council, therefore, the majority could lose the two votes of the five-star movement: external support possible and without coalition constraints. A government role for Barosini would exclude the reconfirmation of Giovanni Berrone. Appointed in October 2022, three months after the election victory, Berrone entered the council as an Azione member: a technical figure suggested by Barosini himself.
The second new face could be that of Gianni Ivaldi, current group leader of Alessandria Civica and destined to take over from Marina Cornara, colleague of the list. In the Democratic Party the odds of Irene Molina as a possible entry for the Abonante council. The current vice-president of the city council, however, may not be the only new councillor: in fact, she would also join Roberta Cazzulocurrent president of the Social and Health Policies Commission and member of the Abonante list.
Finally, the choice to replace Barosini in the role of Prime Minister is likely to be Diego Malagrinogroup leader of the Moderates and president of the Institutional Affairs Commission. In this case, however, the Moderates would lose their representative on the council, Claudio Falleti.
