While the attention of the parties is focused on the chaotic events related to Electoral law, on June 11 about ten million Italians will be called to vote to renew mayors and councils in 1012 municipalities of 18 regions. Among the cities affected by the vote there are 25 provincial capitals, of which 4 regional capitals (Palermo, Genoa, Catanzaro and L'Aquila), and 161 municipalities with more than 15 inhabitants. The eventual runoff round will be on June 25 for municipalities with more than 15 inhabitants.
The return to the high seas of the electoral reform, Thursday in the Chamber, leads us to think that the political climate in the coming months will be incandescent, and these administrations will represent a test bed for the main parties to test the solidity of the alliances and to be able to get the first feedback in view of the next policies which, electoral law permitting, will probably extend to next spring.
Il center will have to understand what are the benefits and possible disadvantages of remaining united, the Pd by Matteo Renzi, on the other hand, will face a post-split electoral round for the first time, while the Movement 5 Stars it is called to demonstrate what its leaders say, namely that the movement is able to be present in a uniform way throughout the national territory and not just in the large urban centres. Hypothesis to be verified.
CITIES TO VOTE: BETWEEN RE-NOMINATIONS, SPLITS AND CLASHES
There are many political ideas that these administrative elections offer, just as there are many cities from which the outcome will emerge the relationship of strength and weakness between the various parties, also and above all at the national level. Here is an analysis of the most important.
GENOA – The Ligurian capital has been a stronghold of the left for fifty years. However, this year, the course could change, and the situation appears very uncertain. Outgoing mayor Marco Doria (Italian Left) has decided not to run again after part of the majority who supported him withdrew their support. The task of carrying the center-left flag aloft was entrusted to Gianni Crivello, 64 years old, current councilor for civil protection in the Doria junta.
The center-right, on the other hand, will present itself with Marco Bucci, 58 years old, manager specialized in the pharmaceutical and digital sector, called in 2015 by the president Giovanni Toti to lead digital Liguria, a company controlled by the region. The maxi coalition Forza Italia, Lega and Fratelli d'Italia has united around the name of Bucci and is confident of victory, as the polls predict.
Genoa, let's not forget, is the city of Beppe Grillo. The M5S could have united and formed a common front to "conquer" the third major city, after the successes of Rome and Turin, but this was not the case. In fact, three different candidates from the pentastellato party will present themselves on June 11th. The official one is Luca Pirondini, who earned the position despite losing the primary to Marika Cassimatis, which will run itself after the chaos of the past months. Finally, she will also apply Paul Putti, elected city councilor in 2012 with the 5 Star Movement but later left the party, now supported by some forces of the radical left.
PALERMO - In Sicily the situation is somewhat uncertain, but above all chaotic. There are six candidates, but the feeling is that the real challenge for the first round is between Leoluca Orlando, Fabrizio Ferrandelli and Ugo Forello. The first two had already run as candidates in 2012, but this time they will present themselves with different parties. The electoral campaign, rather than on programs and proposals, was based on reciprocal attacks.
The center-left candidate, first in the polls, is seventy Leoluca Orlando, outgoing mayor and former mayor from 1985 to 1990 and from 1993 to 2000. If he wins, it would be his fifth term. It is a real institution in Palermo, and its recent political history is quite particular. After being hampered by the Democratic Party during the 2012 elections, the party now strongly supports it, along with seven minor lists.
According to polls, Orlando's main challenger is Fabrizio Ferrandelli, also with a particularly fluctuating political past. Pd candidate in 2012, defeated by Orlando, he resigned as regional councilor in 2015, founding the "I Brave" movement. In addition to this list, he will be supported by the UDC and Forza Italia and Civic Choice. Particular? Maybe, but not in Palermo. All eyes then focused on Ferrandelli after that Toto Cuffaro, former president of the region sentenced definitively to seven years for aggravated aiding and abetting the Cosa Nostra and returned to freedom in December 2015, supported him publicly.
The Five Stars, on the other hand, will present themselves with Ugo Forello. The position of the crickets in Palermo has been greatly questioned after the chaos of the fake signatures of 2016, and it will be very difficult for the pentastellato candidate to be able to win. The race appears to be two-way. With an intelligent political move, the Movement has lined up among the candidates Forello, the lawyer of Claudia La Rocca, the regional parliamentarian who had spontaneously presented herself in the prosecutor's office confirming the accusations of forgery.
PARMA - The Emilian city certainly represents one of the most interesting situations of this electoral round. From Parma began the rise of the Five Star Movement, in 2012, when Federico Pizzarotti he won the municipal elections and brought the grillini to the first real test of government.
Five years later, the scenario has completely changed, the candidate hasn't. In fact, Pizzarotti will reapply himself, after being kicked out of the Movement in 2016 formally for not having warned his party colleagues that he had received a guarantee notice, practically because he was considered "too independent". The outgoing mayor - who will present himself with his new "Parma Effect" list - has done good things, the polls give him the favourite.
Even on the Pd front, the situation is not rosy. The 2012 defeat was a tremendous blow, in terms of reputation and image, and in these five years the party in Parma has not been able to work to re-present itself in a compact manner. The centre-left candidate Paolo Scarpa – an engineer very active in local politics – he based his electoral campaign on the promotion of a new and better waste management and on the construction of a high-speed station near Parma.
The polls predict a two-way race, with Pizzarotti ahead. The ballot is virtually certain. And the Five Stars? The candidate Ghiradruzzi trudges along, the polls give him 3%. How things change in 5 years.
VERONA – Nine mayoral candidates, six of whom revolve around the center-right sphere. This is the starting situation.
Outgoing mayor Flavio Tosi will not be able to run again after two consecutive terms. After the - failed - attempt by the deputy secretary of the Northern League to have article 51 of the consolidated text on the organization of local authorities modified, in order to be able to reapply, Tosi still managed to find a way to remain tied to his own political project. In fact, one of the candidates is his partner, the senator Patricia Bisinella.
The candidacy has aroused numerous criticisms, especially from Bisinella's main challenger, Federico Sboarin, supported by seven lists and among these there is a civic list called "Verona safer", that of Forza Italia, the Northern League, the Brothers of Italy.
However, the favorite according to the polls is the Pd candidate Orietta Salemi, professor of Latin and Greek. She has already been a municipal councilor elected in a center-left civic list since 2007, she has been in the Democratic Party since 2012, since 2015 she has been close to Matteo Renzi and is a regional councilor, who came second overall in terms of number of preferences.
HOW AND WHEN YOU VOTE
Polling stations will be open on Sunday 11 June from 7 to 23. Voters will be given only one ballot paper, but the voting method varies according to the size of the municipality. The electoral system in question is perhaps the most complex, allowing many options for those who vote:
- In municipalities with up to 15 inhabitants, a sign can be traced either on the candidate for mayor or on the linked list, or both signs can be traced. In any case, the vote is attributed both to the list of candidate councilors and to the candidate for mayor.
- In municipalities with more than 15 inhabitants, a sign can be traced only on the candidate for mayor or only on one of the lists linked to the candidate. A third option is the split vote.
