“The first favor to the majority of the legislature was done by the Democratic Party”. Manfredi Palmeri is the group leader of the Moratti List – Lombardia Migliore in the Regional Council. After the election of two dem exponents in the Bureau, with the consequent exclusion of the coalition that supported Letizia Moratti, in an interview with Affaritaliani.it Milan speaks of “a monstrous imbalance” and of “an open wound” that will need to be healed. “Among other things, they showed absolute inconsistency with Lazio where, with the same electoral results, the Pd explained that it was unthinkable to keep out a coalition, in that case the M5s, which had taken 10%. Perhaps they should also point this out to the Lombard colleagues”.
Palmeri, so what’s happening now?
The wound is open and there are no claims for damages. There can only be other grammar mistakes. I hope, however, that no further mistakes are made. At the 2018 regionals, adding the result of Giorgio Gori to that of the M5s with Dario Violi and Onorio Rosati of Liberi e Uguali, the oppositions had around 48% and expressed both members of the UDP. Now that the Pd and the M5s have lost 15 points, going to 33%, they have demanded and imposed the same representation.
The consequences?
The negative effects are both institutional and political. Meanwhile, the imbalance, taking into account that in terms of endowments, two councilors from the same party would have 2.5 million euros available in terms of expenses and personnel during the term, around 500 thousand euros a year, while we have zero.
And at the political level?
With this great operation they have achieved the masterpiece of highlighting the problems within the oppositions more than in the majority, even in the face of evident tensions in the center-right, in the junta and in the Council. And then they also managed to weaken the vice president Emilio Del Bono, the expression of a single minority since we didn’t vote for him.
Yet you were sitting at the table with Pierfrancesco Majorino, Pd group leader.
And we heard a proposal that shouldn’t even have been imagined. Once brought to the table we said it was unacceptable. Maybe someone thought we’d give in for some setup.
A pity for not having supported Majorino?
It would constitute an aggravating circumstance, but at that table, and it is right to underline it, we weren’t making substantive agreements on content. There’s no way they give licenses, we have equal rights and duties as oppositions: maybe we need a robust lesson in democratic principles. If this is the line of the Democratic Party, then the majority can rest easy.
Will you be able to find yourselves as oppositions in the future?
The minority is made up of two fully competing oppositions. We don’t need a political alliance, since we are different coalitions. But in not appreciating the government’s action, it is possible that we find ourselves saying ‘no’ to some proposals. You don’t necessarily have to speak the same language, but you can still understand each other. But not speaking to each other makes government action by the centre-right even simpler and easier. The Democratic Party has sacrificed an institutional sense and weakened the institutions to strengthen the axis with the M5s.
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