The gong sounded Saturday at 12. In the municipal offices the games for the presentation of lists, candidates for mayor and alliances for the municipal councils for the next 3-4 October closed. Among the more than 1,300 municipalities involved (17% of the total, for almost 12 million voters involved), the eyes will be on the 20 provincial capitals: eight have the outgoing center-right administration, seven center-left, three of the five stars and two they come from civic experiences (including Naples, led by the former “orange” mayor Luigi de Magistris).
The challenge of the metropolis
But above all the great metropolises Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin and Bologna are destined to have a national impact, also deciding the fate of party leaders. After long negotiations, in the end between these five big cities, the Pd-M5S alliance (already consolidated at the national level) was tightened only in Naples and Bologna. While on the center-right front, between Lega, Fi and Fdi, no one has decided to expose themselves on the front line with their own representatives and it has been decided to focus only on civic candidates.
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Raggi’s veto on the Pd-M5S agreement
In Rome, there was nothing to do: the outgoing mayor Virginia Raggi (M5S) did not want to take a step back to allow M5S and Pd to converge on a single candidate. So the Democratic Party has focused on the former Minister of Economy of the Conte 2 government Roberto Gualtieri. Complicating the scenario in the center-left is the descent into the field of Carlo Calenda, supported by his Action party and by Iv’s Renziani. The center-right, on the other hand, has decided to draw from civil society, focusing on Enrico Michetti (sponsored above all by Giorgia Meloni), a lawyer specializing in administrative law and a well-known voice on Radio Radio.
The rebus alliances, from Milan to Naples
Even in Milan, despite the attempts to make the M5S converge on the outgoing mayor Giuseppe Sala – supported by Pd, Iv and other lists, and recently passed to the European Greens – at the end the pentastellati presented their candidate: the manager Layla Pavone. After having crossed out several names, the center-right has decided to nominate another civic, Luca Bernardo, head of Pediatrics at the Fatebenefratelli. What failed in Rome and Milan, instead happened in Naples: Gaetano Manfredi, former minister of the University in Conte 2, got the ok from Pd and M5S (as well as Iv). But here in the center-left the game becomes complicated with the descent into the field of the former center-left mayor Antonio Bassolino and Alessandra Clemente, supported by the outgoing mayor de Magistris. The center-right instead focused on the anticamorra prosecutor Catello Maresca (especially wanted by Salvini).
An agreement was also found in Bologna: after winning the center-left primaries, Matteo Lepore (Pd), who has been in the council of the outgoing mayor Virginio Merola for ten years, also obtained the okay from the M5S (as well as Iv). While the center-right has decided to converge on Fabio Battistini, an entrepreneur especially appreciated by the League. Even in Turin the center-right has focused on an entrepreneur (and also here with the strong sponsor Matteo Salvini) Paolo Damilano. While in the center left the attempts of a Pd-M5S agreement have failed. Yet the step backwards of the outgoing pentastellate mayor Chiara Appendino seemed to be able to pave the way for an agreement. Instead, the Democratic Party has nominated Stefano Lo Russo, leader of the Democratic Party in the City Council, after the victory in the primary (also supported by Iv). The M5S eventually chose Valentina Sganga, 35, group leader in the City Council.