The men and women from the South Calls North headquarters showed up at 8.45 with 22 folders. They will be led by mayoral candidate Federico Basile and regional deputy Pippo Lombardo. A total of 1010 candidates, of which 468 for the City Council – with 15 lists filed (11 complete with 32 candidates, 2 with 30 and 2 with 28) – and 542 candidates for the Constituencies, divided into 61 lists distributed as follows: 7 in the first district, 8 in the second, 11 in the third, 13 in the fourth, 10 in the fifth, 7 in the sixth and 5 in the seventh.
Basile and the appeal
“We had launched the “appeal of a thousand” to collect a strong testimony in support of the administrative path started by Sud Gioca Nord, and the response came clear and concrete with a broad participation which today translates into the presentation of the lists in support of the mayoral candidate Federico Basile.”
“The numbers show a significant commitment on the part of many citizens who have chosen to be there, not only to carry forward our project, but above all to continue to concretely contribute to the future of the city of Messina, making skills, energy and a strong sense of belonging to the community available” declared Federico Basile.
“Our team is made up of women and men who have chosen to put their best foot forward for their city. It is a large and prepared group, deeply rooted in the neighbourhoods, capable of understanding citizens’ requests and translating them into concrete and targeted interventions”, he said again.
Not only administrative continuity but the need to look to the future through people who can further enrich the Sud Gioca Nord team. “The lists presented today are the result of a shared path, which puts merit, commitment and passion at the center – concluded Federico Basile – Our objective is to continue along the city’s growth path, strengthening services, enhancing the territory and guaranteeing opportunities for everyone. Together we can continue to build the future. We are ready for the third strategic phase”.
The councilors indicated are all outgoing
The choice of a continuity “bridge” council also fits in this direction: Federico Basile has in fact confirmed, for a first phase, Alessandra Calafiore, Liana Cannata, Antonino Carreri, Vincenzo Caruso, Massimo Finocchiaro and Massimiliano Minutoli, with the aim of “not interrupting the work started but accompanying it until the conclusion of some important processes already underway”. “It is a choice of seriousness and responsibility – he added – because it is necessary to close open issues and guarantee administrative continuity without slowdowns, at the same time strengthening the support of qualified technical profiles which aims to make the start of this first phase of administrative action even more incisive”.
De Luca: “They want to poison the political climate”
South Call North denounces the climate of pressure and intimidation that is being created around the phase of presentation and admission of the lists in support of Federico Basile’s candidacy.
“For days we have been witnessing a clear attempt to poison the political climate and to transform a passage regulated by law into a field of threats, pressure and propaganda announcements”, declares Cateno De Luca.
The reference is to the press conference called by the candidate Marcello Scurria on the topic of the presentation of the lists without subscriptions and to the actions implemented, despite the path followed by Sud Gioca Nord having been previously submitted to the competent bodies.
“We posed a formal question to the Regional Department of Local Autonomy Service 5 Electoral Office which supervises the correct conduct of electoral procedures in Sicily already on 13 March, in unsuspecting times. We expressly announced that we were preparing 15 lists for the municipal council and 50 lists for the constituencies, applying the principle of exemption of signatures for all lists. On 16 March the Director of the Service announced that the exemption of signatures is also applicable to a plurality of lists promoted by the same political movement which has a regularly constituted parliamentary group in the Sicilian Parliament. This opinion was sent to all the Prefectures and electoral offices. On 14 April the general secretary of the municipality of Messina formulated a further question to the same Electoral Office service asking if the exemption of signatures was applicable in the presence of multiple civic lists with the inclusion of the so-called “lentil”, i.e. the symbol of the political movement exempted from the collection of signatures. on multiple civic lists. On 16 April, Service 5 of the Electoral Office confirmed the previous opinion, specifying that there is no obstacle to the use of the so-called “lentil” to take advantage of the exemption from collecting signatures even in the presence of a plurality of lists presented by the same political movement. We did not act arbitrarily, but on the basis of formal opinions of the relevant body”, continues De Luca.
According to Cateno De Luca, the ongoing attempt would be to shift the terrain of the dispute from the exemption of signatures to the presumed confusion of the symbols, creating a climate of pressure on the electoral commission precisely in the decisive hours. “It is very serious that, while the commission is called upon to carry out its work in full autonomy and impartiality, press conferences, acts and political threats are fueled with the aim of influencing the proceedings. We publicly denounce this intimidating climate and reserve the right to take any initiative in the competent offices”, states De Luca again. “I also learned, adds De Luca, from the so-called “Palermitan ushers” that, in the next few hours, a note should arrive from the electoral office of the regional Department of Local Autonomy, aimed at moving the question to the topic of the possible confusion of the symbols.
A profile which, however, can be evaluated exclusively by the prefectural electoral commission through the institution of recusal, with the consequent allocation of 48 hours for the re-presentation of the symbols and the collection of signatures. It is clear that this Palermo measure is expected ad horas to put pressure on the prefectural electoral commission precisely in the decisive phase of the procedure”.
Cateno De Luca reiterates his full trust in the bodies called to evaluate the lists and confirms that he is ready to face any scenario. “We will not be intimidated. We have built an impressive organizational machine, with over a thousand candidates ready to take the field. If anyone thinks of stopping democracy with pressure, quibbles and palace games, know that they will find a compact political community and a city ready to respond with participation”, adds De Luca. “Elections are won with the consent of citizens, not with attempts to influence the proceedings. We move forward, with serenity, determination and in full compliance with the rules. In any case, we are already ready, with authenticators activated, to collect over 10,000 signatures in 48 hours, if this “criminal strategy”, which appears to have been discussed and which also appears to involve the President of the Schifani Region, were to be implemented” concludes Cateno De Luca.