Party leaders are divided between election campaign issues and socio-economic ones such as health and agriculture policies. The national secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein from the stage in via Sparano in Bari, during the closing of the campaign for the mayoral candidate Vito Leccese, attacks the government on the health measures taken in the last few hours: “It is useless to continue to strengthen the private sector. We need new hiring to solve the problem of waiting lists. It is useless to continue to wring out doctors and nurses who are already subjected to grueling shifts. It means that they have not met one for months – says Schlein, who adds – the health decree is a fluff decree Twenty thousand doctors have already gone abroad and many have moved into the private sector because it becomes more convenient for them. We need to put more resources and an extraordinary plan into the public sector.” Schlein’s Apulian campaign day started from Trinitapoli, in support of the area candidate Anna Maria Tarantino, in the Municipality of Bat dissolved by the Interior Ministry due to mafia infiltration in 2022. An agricultural territory which, more than others, sees wheat producers worried about competition of foreign goods. “We need to be vigilant and increase controls – said Schlein – The Democratic Party has fought hard in recent years to enforce the quality of our productions and protect them, even compared to other counterfeit or lower quality productions”. In the afternoon, Schlein also stopped in Manfredonia, before arriving in Bari, where he also met the Democratic candidates for the European elections Antonio Decaro and Lucia Annunziata, and the candidate for president of the European Commission for the PSE, Nicolas Schmit.
Meanwhile, the centre-right is united around the candidates for mayor of Bari, Fabio Romito, and Lecce, Adriana Poli Bortone and welcomes the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida, busy between Foggia, Salento and the capital of Bari, where the controversy over the imports of wheat from abroad. “On the merchant ship docked in Bari, loaded with corn, the checks of the Masaf agri-food control forces immediately began, with sampling and consequent laboratory analyzes to verify the correct health parameters”. Lollobrigida said in this regard. “We want to combat unfair commercial practices and support transparency in the agri-food supply chain,” she continued. “We must protect our companies and farmers’ wages, protect the people who buy and keep the name of Made in Italy high”.
