Farewell to Forza Italia was in the air. Now it’s official. Alessandro De Leo announced that he had resigned from Forza Italia and the related parliamentary group at the Sicilian Regional Assembly, at the same time formalizing his membership of the Mixed Group. This is a decision reached at the end of a process of in-depth political and personal reflection, which developed in the aftermath of the recent administrative elections of the Municipality of Messina.
“Despite the significant personal consensus obtained in terms of preferences – we read in a note – the Hon. De Leo deemed it necessary to immediately follow up on what had already been announced publicly during the press conference of May 30th. Respect towards the citizens who have placed their trust in him and the protection of their personal and institutional dignity have made a choice of clarity and political coherence no longer postponable. “We have witnessed – declares the Hon. Dc Leo – to a real political crime within Forza Italia, perpetrate it without any consideration for all those who spent themselves body and soul in the Messina electoral campaign. As I already publicly denounced on May 30, the minimum guarantees of part of the delegation and of those who hold governance roles on behalf of the party have failed. In the phase of composing the list we suffered clear and obvious manipulation at the hands of “crows and puppeteers”. In the face of these very serious critical issues, I have not seen any decisive interventions at all levels, nor public positions taken or initiatives aimed at ascertaining what happened. To date I must also note the total absence of discussions, both formal and informal, with the leaders of the party and with the Presidency of the Region regarding the issues raised”.
“I am a candidate for the good of the coalition and the party – continues the regional deputy – but I am supervising for the love of my city. Evidently, however, someone would have preferred my silence and the omission of the facts, hoping to hide a political and electoral disaster of sensational proportions. I have chosen the opposite path, that is, the responsibility of transparency and open denunciation. I know perfectly well that this truth-telling operation of mine will break consolidated balances and annoy those who prefer to move in the shadows. Precisely for this, I expect from now on the classic attempts at political retaliation. But I will not be intimidated by any palace maneuvers. I put my dignity and a transparent and courageous way of understanding politics before everything.”