Roberto Lagalla, doctor, former rector of the University of Palermo and candidate for mayor of the entire center-right in Palermo, is heading towards a victory in the first round. According to the municipal law it is enough to exceed 40% of the votes to be elected in the first round. And the exit polls of the Opinio Italia consortium for Rai assign him a fork between 43 and 47 percent. The center-right would therefore conquer the city after the uncontested reign of Leoluca Orlando for forty years, albeit in several phases.
The complicated path for the unified candidacy
For Lagalla’s candidacy, born in 1955, the center-right arrived after a long push and pull. Founder in 2017 of the civic movement Idea Sicilia, Lagalla in the same year was elected deputy of the Sicilian regional assembly. And until last March 30 he was councilor in the regional council of Nello Musumeci, when he resigned to run for mayor of Palermo. Initially supported only by UDC leader Lorenzo Cesa, Lagalla received the support of Fdi. And only later did the green light also come from Forza Italia and Lega (which here presents itself as Italy First). The re-nomination in autumn at the helm of the Region of Nello Musemueci (exponent of the Brothers of Italy) weighed on the negotiation. Hypothesis on which the coalition remains divided. The convergence of the entire center-right on the name of Lagalla made Matteo Renzi change his mind, who initially supported the former rector. But Italia Viva Palermo confirmed the support.
The arrests and the controversies for the support of Dell’Utri and Cuffaro
Lagalla’s race was marked by the controversy over the arrest for political-mafia electoral exchange and the electoral campaign of two center-right candidates (Pietro Polizzi of Forza Italia and Francesco Lombardo of Fratelli d’Italia), both guilty, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, of having sought the votes of the Mafia bosses. Previously, the support of the former rector of Totò Cuffaro (at the helm of “Dc nuova”, a sort of Christian Democracy 4.0 deployed alongside Lagalla) and Marcello Dell’Utri, both definitively convicted for mafia, had caused a sensation.
«Dell’Utri’s was an unsolicited intervention, due to the internal debate at Forza Italia, which I underwent. As for Cuffaro, there is a list with worthy and verified people who are making an effort; at Cuffaro I didn’t have any conditioning when I was his councilor for health, let alone now »pointed out Lagalla. And he added: “We do not want the votes of the mafia from wherever they come, whoever proposes shortcuts or wicked steps will be accompanied to the Prosecutor’s Office”. The former rector, however, preferred not to participate in the commemoration for the thirtieth anniversary of the killing of Giovanni Falcone, Francesca Morvillo and the escort agents.
The first three promised interventions
Three interventions promised by Lagalla as a new mayor: to restore the accounts of the Municipality by immediately opening a dialogue with the State to solve the problem of the non-approval of the 2021 and 2022 budget; give a worthy burial to the coffins stacked in the cemetery of the Rotoli and organize in the best way and according to tradition the Festino di Santa Rosalia, so dear to all the Palermitans.