After the recent European elections, the majority council groups asked mayor Pino Marchionna to revoke the delegations of all councilors and to initiate a review of the council. The request was made by councilors Cosimo Elmo (Forza Italia), Raffaele De Maria (Brothers of Italy), Ercole Saponaro (Lega), Gabriele Antonino (Republican Party), Maurizio Colella (House of Moderates) and Teodoro Scarano (civic list Marchionna Mayor). The council – according to the latter – did not maintain an adequate dialogue with the city council and some councilors deserted the meetings of the council commissions.
The request is that this review takes place before the meeting of the municipal council which will be held to decide on the rescue of Brindisi Multiservizi, the municipality’s subsidiary company whose recovery plan foresees an impact of 2.5 million euros on the municipal coffers, with possible doubts of legitimacy on the part of the Court of Auditors. Among the hypotheses of names to be replaced, for Forza Italia there would be the councilor for public works Gianluca Quarta and the councilor for public education Ernestina Sicilia, who could be replaced by Cosimo Elmo and Caterina Cozzolino. Fratelli d’Italia could remove the deputy mayor Massimiliano Oggiano in favor of Cesare Mevoli and also aim for the presidency of the city council, currently held by Gabriele Antonino (Republican Party). The League proposes Ercole Saponaro in place of the Sports Councilor Lidia Penta.
Mayor Marchionna recognized the problems highlighted by the council groups but rejected the request for immediate revocation of the delegations. He decided to take time to consult with the majority parties and movements before making a final decision.
