In Chiari the ballot rewards Gabriele Zotti, the candidate to lead the right-centre coalition. Zotti won with around 52% while Domenico Codoni, candidate of a civic coalition in continuity with the outgoing administration, had to settle for 48%.
What was therefore rewarded was the wide right-wing camp and Zotti’s ability to broaden the perimeter of the coalition, until he teamed up with Roberto Goffi, who had obtained 4% in the first round. Zotti, with around 34%, has therefore increased his pace compared to Codoni, who had to stop below 29% in the first round. What seems clear is that the divisions in the center-left and in the progressive civic area have not paid off. In the first round, in addition to Codoni, in the center-left area there were also Marco Salogni (Pd and civic) and Alessandro Gozzini (civic), two candidates who were able to gather 33% overall.
In short, on paper the run-off might have seemed downhill for Codoni, but whatever for the divisions in recent monthsEither due to the lack of similarity, in the end it didn’t go that way. And this, in a context in which, at least in the first round, Zotti had seemed a weak candidate and not particularly appreciated by the electorate (the difference in votes between European and municipal votes had been in the order of 30 percentage points). In the second round, with a turnout of around 56% (compared to 68% two weeks ago) Zotti, on the other hand, was more attractive. Fifty years old, responsible for the financial sector of Cascina Clarabella, Zotti had already had administrative experience during the decade of the Mazzatorta council (2004-2014).
He has had a Fratelli d’Italia membership card for a year. “A game conducted intelligently on a political level – says the new mayor Gabriele Zotti -. We lowered the party flags, and we also opened a civic area“. First steps? “I will think about the Clarens and what they will need. From tomorrow we will be at work, today we celebrate this important result”. “We lost, the citizens chose differently, we take note of this, congratulations to the winners – says Codoni -. Thanks to all those who have placed their trust in us once again. What is certain is that not a day will pass without our presence in the city and in the city council to monitor and ensure that the important goals achieved in the last ten years should not be wasted and lost.”
