The centre-left candidate wins with 4,837 votes, 219 more than in the first round “A very long journey begins: they saw us coming, but they couldn’t stop us”
by Flavia Pagliochini
BASTIA UMBRA Leading from start to finish with a range between two and three hundred votes, Erigo Pecci wins the run-off with 51.19%, with 4,837 residents who chose him. The center-left challenger, supported by the wide field, managed to bring back all his 4,618 voters from the first round, when he had already come first, and to convince two hundred and nineteen more. The party in the committee explodes just before five: the future mayor is the only calm one while everything around is buzzing, and there is more and more celebration. He is sitting at a table near the former mayor Francesco Lombardi, with a blank sheet of paper where he marks the votes one by one. Only at the end, when everything is official and the first stadium chants start, he melts and embraces his wife and children, the candidates and the citizens, the list representatives and those who, despite everything, have always believed in this candidacy. Until victory. “We all won together and began a very long journey, those who sing, dance and rejoice do so because they were participants in a long and shared process”, the words of the new mayor interviewed in the midst of the crowd. “They saw us coming but they didn’t they managed to stop us, now we will give Bastia a new future. Worried? Just some work to do, including some major maintenance right away. And then assemblies with citizens, to understand what is needed and where. Not divided, but together.” And at the same time it is also the refrain of the future mandate: “We need to create a direct relationship with the citizens, it is no longer the electoral campaign, but a direct relationship between us and the citizens, with strength. In the final rally some of them attacked us and we presented the government team, we saw the structure of the people who will occupy roles in this administration and behind them there are hundreds of them in support. What if I want to send a message to the losers? I wouldn’t call them that – the answer – I would call them competitors: I have the utmost respect for some people who have committed themselves to the lists. In this city and in this country there is a need for a new ruling class and it can be found in all political formations. Worried about what I’ll find? No, but there is also a lot to do from a structural point of view. We’ll see what happens, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about… just how much work needs to be done. Not divided, but working in neighborhoods with citizens: what is needed, where do we start from together. We presented ourselves as a group, and there are many generations also committed to the next generational change. I am one of Bastia Umbra and I will be everyone’s mayor.” The Pecci-branded city council will be composed as follows – net of appointments and resignations: the majority, with a 4-3-1-1-1 pattern, sees four Pd councillors, with the recordwoman Ramona Furiani and the secretary of the Pd Alessandro Barbanera, as well as Luisa Fatigoni (outgoing and returning councillor) and Luca Ciuchicchi; for Uniti per Bastia, Stefano Lombardi, Claudio Boccali and Elisa Zocchetti enter; and one councilor each for the Alleanza Verdi Sinistra (Pablo Tombolesi), Movimento 5 Stelle (Marcello Rosignoli) and Progetto Bastia (Paolo Ansideri). In the minority, four councilors for the coalition that reached the ballot: the candidate Paola Lungarotti, with Giulio Provvidenza (Lungarotti mayor) and Stefano Santoni and Francesca Sforna for Fratelli d’Italia. Then, Catia degli Esposti (mayoral candidate) and Fabrizio Raspa (Civic for Bastia)
