A satirical piece of music targets Claudiu Stanasel, candidate of the League and outgoing vice-president of the Prato city council, is making the rounds in some chats attributable to sympathizers of the left-wing area, enjoying popularity for its jovial tone. A tone that is hardly politically correct, given that the councilor’s Romanian origins are at stake. “God, homeland and bottle” — with an obvious and deliberate misspelling of “bottle” — aroused mixed reactions, although the person directly involved decided to welcome the satire with lightness and humor.
The premise is simple. Stanasel, born in Romania in the 1990s, grew up here and for this campaign tried to emphasize his connection with the city through election posters with the slogan “I am from Prato”. Enough to inspire the composer of the song which mixes modern stereotypes and local traditions in lines such as “he smashes the bottle and lays the worms”, painting the League candidate as “Balkan with an Italian heart” and playing with mixed cultural references, including foods and figures historical.
Despite the mockery, Stanasel and other party members, such as secretary Daniele Spada, maintain that satire, even if heavy, is acceptable as long as it does not lead to violence or censorship. In fact, they relaunch. «If the song had been spread among the League groups and had concerned another candidate of foreign origins, all of Italy today would be reading about racism and some politically correct soloist would stand as a resolute censor», says Stanasel. And for the provincial secretary of the Carroccio, Daniele Spada, “the episode highlights the cultural and political dynamics of Prato, a city that prides itself on an inclusive and humorous identity that deserves to be governed better”.
