Despite the very modest electoral result – Vito Botticella obtained 754 votes and 1.41% – the Forlì Federation of the Italian Communist Party comments on the vote by raising its tone, speaking of a future victory and of the shame of the “lazy and unworthy” heirs of the communist tradition, shooting to zero more than on the right on Graziano Rinaldini and the Democratic Party who tried to set up a coalition to beat Gian Luca Zattini, but failed.
“The PCI, federation of Forlì-Cesena, intends to publicly thank all the voters and electors, who wanted to express their consent to the Party and to the precious comrade Vito Botticella, candidate for mayor. Thanks to the continuous and commendable commitment of our moving militants, after 34 years our symbol returned to the electoral ballot of the Municipality of Forlì and it did so with the seriousness and dignity that the people of Forlì deserve. Well beyond, therefore, the preferences recorded, we consider this electoral stage a great result if we consider that until two years ago the provincial federation of the PCI was non-existent also thanks, unfortunately, to the shameful complicity of some local leaders, dedicated only to selling out the principles and activity required by the ideals that Antonio Gramsci left us. – thus the note signed Giovanni Puggioni Provincial Coordinator PCI – In the squalid electoral campaign re-won by Mayor Zattini we cannot but take note of the strong request for ever greater commitment from the communists of Forlì so that the institutions of our city talk about the problems of workers in difficulty, the problems of students seen only as ATMs and payers of exorbitant rents, of the problems of young people who are denied a future of growth and progress, of the problems of elderly people who are increasingly less protected considering their miserable pensions and the failing and shameful state of the healthcare system that should assist them.”
“In the initiatives that we therefore promise, starting from a collection of signatures for a popular initiative law against the abolition of the health copay, which will be filed by the PCI, in the Court of Cassation on June 24th, we are not concerned about sharing, or not , of our actions with other political or associational structures, however unfortunately and solely responsible for having returned, and maintained, the Municipality to the right. This is due to the complete absence of a project of social representation, but only by asking for votes from the same electoral pool which, as demonstrated, has clearly confirmed that those who profess to be left-wing should look, as we do, in exactly the opposite direction to that appreciated by the followers of Meloni or Salvini. Someone during the first demonstrations of the mud victims came to ask us to remove our red flags. Clearly, we didn’t. Someone else organized haughty and guiltily opinionated electoral strategy meetings without considering, or worse, consulting, our experiences and our abilities. They rightly lost. Unfortunately they are above all guilty of having made Forlì lose again. On our victory and on climbing our first step we will help our red flag and all the people of Forlì to regain their due dignity and seriousness. – concludes Puggioni – The one we left him 34 years ago. The one squandered by shamefully armchair and unworthy heirs. The one that will once again become their, our, city.”
