CORIGLIANO-ROSSANO – If for Mimmo Bevacqua strength lies in moderation and that is why, very often, staying in still watersdistinct and sometimes distant from the whirlwind of facts and political events, also guarantees to observe things from another perspective. Perhaps less impetuous, more thoughtful and certainly not obvious. And it is precisely of other and new perspectives that the leader of the Democratic Party in the Regional Council spoke yesterday evening, presenting in Corigliano-Rossano his autobiographical book, written by the journalist Salvatore Audia, with the emblematic title “My strength is moderation”. An opportunity to bring together, in the suggestive location of the Lido Sabbia d’Oro on the Momena seafront, friends, supporters and comrades from other times; to trace the sum of what was his political life, starting from the roots, but also to see the new lines on the horizon.
In the audience there were many supporters and institutional representatives of the Democratic Party, mayors, former mayors and councilors; there was also the mayor of Corigliano-Rossano, Flavio Stasiwho despite never having been a member of the PD has always had an influence within some Democratic areas (Bevacqua, for example, has been a supporter of his since the very beginning!). There was also Little Rose Madeothe Democratic Party group leader in the Provincial Council and first of those elected in the new Municipal Council of Co-Ro with almost 1,100 preferences. Super elected yes, but not in the PD list. Reason why the the city secretary of the Democrats, Francesco Madeo, put her in the dockalong with other members who chose to run independently, accusing her of having disregarded the party’s values.
The pharaonic babel of the local PD
However, in order to understand what the values are that the secretary is referring to in clarifying this matter, from his “moderate observatory”, Mimmo Bevacqua himself thought about it. when asked what he thought of this situation that has arisen in Corigliano-Rossano (which is not unusual but concerns a bit the whole PD area in the province of Cosenza), quoting Kennedy («“Don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” he got straight to the point: «Instead of immediately arriving at radical solutions – said Bevacqua – I would ask myself why many PD members have decided not to run with the PD. And I still wonder – he added – if it hadn’t been for Franco Iacucci who insisted on making the PD list, would the PD have ever managed to make a list for Co-Ro? I don’t want to defend Rosellina Madeo and all those like her who made a choice different from that of the party, but if they have left it is necessary to rethink the authority of this party and its leadership. The PD is not a court but a community, which certainly has rules, but we need to understand whether these rules have not been respected or whether further work is needed». In short, Bevacqua absolves the “exiles” by virtue of that pharaonic babel that has characterized the local party since its constitution in a single circle of Corigliano-Rossano. This is not the time for summary judgments, it is not even time for trials, it is not time to roll heads; since the Democrats, who have entered for the first time and officially inside the Civic Assizes of the third city of Calabria, will now have to leverage their authority to carve out a leading role within the new city government. Stasi permitting.
The Chess Game of Stasi and the Democratic Party
The mayor, we were saying, remained seated in the audience from the beginning to the end of the event yesterday. Symptomatic of the friendship that binds Stasi and Bevacqua and of that particular positive influence that the mayor has on a good part of Schlein’s party in the city. Even if in politics one does not live on ideas alone. Before ideas, in politics, numbers and strategies count.
And Bevacqua, as well as Stasi, it is undeniable that they have something in mind. Stasi does not commit himself and – we repeat – there is no reason not to believe that he really wants to be mayor for the next five years. Given that, however, at the end of this other term he should wait at least two years before re-connoting himself within a political-institutional framework. Too long. So there are two possible paths. That of the Policieswhich would be almost at the natural expiry of the mayoral mandate, or the Regional at the end of 2026. And here a whole new world opens up. Also because, in this circumstance – as the journalist Antonio Cantisani wrote yesterday on Courier of Calabria – within the Center Left there would be a perfect astral conjunction that could bring together and merge the Democratic Party and Flavio Stasi to aim straight for the presidency of the Calabria Region. On the one hand a party that needs in Calabria to – first of all – maintain a leading role and to do so, to gain credibility, it must modernize itself, break out of a stereotyped narrative and break away from the cloak of its internal currents; on the other hand, a young mayorwhich brings with it the gift of having put behind the last administrative elections the entire local and Calabrian Centre Right and its leader and possible new competitor in the regional elections, of representing a strong reformist soul and of being, among other things, representative of a territory, north-eastern Calabria, which wants to clearly break out of the “cosenzacentrism” schemes.
Is it possible, then, that tomorrow the Democratic Party will decide to focus on Flavio Stasi as a name to propose to the center-left coalition and to use in the competition for the presidency of the Region? To a clear question, Bevacqua responded equally clearly: «Stasi has all the credentials to be on a list of possible names». A “rose” that, among other things, does not seem to be very large. «Whoever wants to run for the leadership of the region – said Bevacqua – and has the ambition to do so, must be able to look ahead and create those conditions thanks to which they can deploy the best energies available and build relationships». And this message seems to be addressed to Stasi as much as to the PD itself and the conclusion of the Democratic Group Leader is emblematic: «It will be up to the PD to understand who can embody the ideals of a broad winning field and I believe that Stasi has all the characteristics to be included, especially if he is able to seize and exploit the great opportunity that is given to him by being the representative of a large city».
