UDINE. Okay, Palazzo Torriani, headquarters of Confindustria Udine, is not the Quirinale. But what happened on Wednesday evening in the halls of the austere Friulian palace has a lot to do with what happened in Parliament, the year of grace 2013. At the time, the famous 101 conspirators, in the secret of the urn, clipped the wings of Romano Prodi , which seemed destined for the highest hill. And to think that at the assembly of the Democratic Party the professor was praised by those who, a few hours later, would have betrayed him.
A similar fate, somewhat bitter, befell Anna Mareschi Danieli, who aspired to a two-year extension of her mandate at the top of entrepreneurs. It seemed really done, but instead … Unanimity until the last breath, zero alternative candidacies, no manifest dissent, handshakes and smiles in the reception hall. Yet among the 38 members of the Council with the right to vote (only one absence), at least 7, 8 members turned their faces away from the outgoing leader, imposing a sudden and brutal stop on her.
A bolt from the blue: his majority stopped at 24, solid but not enough. In fact, the 10 opponents won the game, to which 3 abstentions were added, because to approve the mandate bis it was necessary to reach 80% of votes.
The tumultuous day after
An epilogue that is unprecedented in the history of the association. But now the boiling magma has emerged from under the ashes and the developments of the situation are indecipherable. The day after the president lived away from the Udine office, understandably afflicted. And many big Confindustria phones rang for a long time empty, while other members of the association declined the invitation to comment. It will take days, perhaps weeks, to dissolve a climate of suspicion which, inevitably, in these cases, can take over.
The fracture to be recomposed is deep and at the moment it is groping in the dark. Who will be the successor of Anna Mareschi Danieli? Will it still focus on a young person, or will it take the experience and wisdom of a great old man to put the pieces back together?
Reset all vertices
Piero Petrucco, president of Icop of Basiliano, one of the most important construction companies in the region, is one of the few to expose himself. It accepts the hypothesis of past president Giovanni Fantoni, that is to clear the current Council. A clear break with the past, all new names and starting from scratch. “I believe that a General Council which in June expresses itself unanimously and without anything new happening in the meantime, nor alternative candidacies or clear situations of dissent emerge – states Petrucco – and then votes, in the secret of the ballot box, setting a trap with the flavor of the old politics, is completely delegitimized. Confindustria wrote a bad page, a sad, squalid and unacceptable thing. We had the Prodi-style shotgun, it’s a very serious damage. It is not possible that it is not possible to regulate relations as it should be done between civilized persons ”.
Petrucco fears that the conspiracy staged the other night has distant roots. «It is a replica of what happened four years ago with the dispute between me and Scarpa – he observes -, these are internal associative dynamics that have not been resolved, I do not see noble designs or strategies for the future. It is an operation carried out by a minority, an operation of destruction, without alternative proposals. This time, more than mending things up, we need to clarify, even by telling us what is wrong. How do we interact with the territory, with the institutions? Friuli comes out weakened ».
The president of Biofarma Germano Scarpa, another figure who counts within the Confindustrial mechanisms, limits himself to saying that “there was a vote that was to give the mandate to the president for another two years and a certain number of shareholders, who in other situations had not shown opposition, they have changed their mind. It can happen, it happens, but now we need in-depth reflection ».
«I am one of those who were very surprised by the result on Wednesday evening – admits the past president Matteo Tonon -. No alternative projects had emerged so far. We did a round of consultations with colleagues, to see how to move. What happens now? There will certainly be a moment of reflection, until early November there is time for dialogue. There could be the conditions for the cancellation of the Board, as hypothesized by Fantoni ».
Whispers and hypotheses
In fact, the formal declarations end here. No comment by Angela Martina, who is part of the college of the three wise men “because of the role I played, I can’t speak”.
And like her, many others, kind, denials. But outside the official channels there are those who do not let themselves be prayed for. «As in the best families – says a leading entrepreneur – there is heated discussion and conflicts may emerge over the vision of the future, on alliances, on mergers, on the way to proceed. The world has changed, we are moving towards a great confindustria in the Northeast, but Udine is an important element and has its own specificities that must be maintained and enhanced. It is not a personal matter, the president is a good person, she was able to manage Confindustria well during her mandate, she showed capacity. During the final vote, however, a discomfort emerged that evidently already existed before. The new president? We will make a path, we will think together and in the end a solution will be found, on this I am optimistic ».
the risk of fort apache
There are also those who spread their arms, shake their heads, but say “In the end, that’s okay.” «Different things were expected during these years – admits another industrialist of great caliber -. The single Confindustria had to be done better, there was no longer any reason to procrastinate. I am disappointed, we had to make more team at the regional level. We always talk about synergies, about teams and then we are the first not to do it: what example do we give to those who look at us from the outside? Every deal brings discontent, but we had to look ahead. We are losing ground behind false problems, mergers in Veneto have made them. It is clear that in the short term a merger can bring some discontent, but I always look at the long term result. Was Mareschi Danieli surprised by the outcome? When you are surprised it means that you have not fully felt the “belly” of the association, the deep and true moods of your colleagues. The reality is that Confindustria Udine is isolated at the moment. We can’t always stay closed in Fort Apache, because we know how it ended up in Fort Apache ».
.