Dafne Musolino’s farewell, which resulted in the move to Italy Viva at the court of Matteo Renzi, is not a bolt from the blue, because clear, the southern sky calls North, it hasn’t been for a long time. It wasn’t for Musolino herself first of all, but not even for the other parliamentarian of Cateno De Luca’s political creature, the deputy Francesco Gallo. And beyond the usual denials, the latter’s permanence among the Deluchian ranks is by no means a given. Indeed, there are those who are convinced that after the Monza elections, yet another competition in which the former mayor of Messina and current mayor of Taormina has decided to compete, there may be other movements.
Gallo’s words
Gallo himself said it: «We knew that we had to clarify something within our party, but we told ourselves to discuss it after the Monza elections». But Gallo also said something else: “I could understand that he would choose to go with the majority, but instead he remains in the opposition.” As if a transition to the majority, in short, was (or still is, for those who remained) an option. And then the phrase that Cateno De Luca didn’t like at all: the choice of Dafne Musolino “is still within the prerogatives of every parliamentarian”.
De Luca made himself heard again yesterday morning from his headquarters in Monza (where some of his loyalists from Messina joined him in the afternoon): «How can you say that it is a parliamentarian’s prerogative to change his departure? How can you say that it is a prerogative to betray your electorate?”. De Luca wanted to dot the “i”s: «Francesco Gallo and Dafne Musolino were elected with the large name “De Luca”. The voters voted for De Luca.” Gallo and Musolino, together.
«Put… politics»
So the leader of the South calls North revealed a background from which the controversy of the day was born: «Do you know what Renzi said about you, dear Dafne, at the Bernini table (the Center table, with Letizia Moratti and Beppe Fioroni, at the which one should De Luca himself have participated in? He said that if he hadn’t taken you he would have taken Calenda, because you’re looking for visibility. You can do anything in life, but pass for putt… no politics… Do you see the environment you ended up in?”.
And here is the deluge of controversy, starting from the national coordinator of Italia Viva, Raffaella Paita: «“Sculettatrice”, “putt… politics”: Cateno De Luca uses sexism and insults to attack Italia Viva and its Boschi parliamentarians and Musolino.” Paita also announced a complaint. Carlo Calenda, leader of Action, followed: «Our solidarity with Dafne Musolino for the insults received. It is unacceptable to call someone who freely decides how to exercise their electoral mandate “putt… politics”. This language towards a woman, senator or private citizen is unacceptable.”
Forzista Matilde Siracusano, a parliamentarian from Messina who in the past was the subject of harsh attacks by De Luca, also had her say: «Sincere solidarity with Dafne Musolino and Maria Elena Boschi, victims of vile sexist attacks by Cateno De Luca . History repeats itself, and unfortunately I know something about it. The leader of the South calls North is no stranger to these verbal excesses. His attitude is now almost a method. Evidently, insult, linguistic violence and machismo are ordinary components of his communication, with the aggravating circumstance of the use of a devious strategy, with which he tries to pass off his sexist insults as an interpretation of other people’s thoughts, threatening denunciations and lawsuits. against those who legitimately rebel against his words. Instead of alternating between crying and screaming, De Luca should reflect on why the women and men closest to him abandon him along the way.”
Renzi: «A gentleman’s time»
In reality Maria Elena Boschi had never been mentioned by De Luca, who rejected the accusations of sexism, explaining that “putt…politics” was not an insult, but the metaphor of an approach, that of Renzi towards the senator Musolino. Renzi, for his part, didn’t bat an eyelid: «Since yesterday, a very good senator called Dafne Musolino has been part of the Italia Viva community – he said -. Lawyer, you are one of the most appreciated parliamentarians when you speak in the Chamber. And not only that. I am happy to demonstrate every week that Italia Viva continues to expand. With all due respect to those who would like to see our political disappearance and do not realize that we grow every day. As with defamations, time is a gentleman.”
Clutches not new
Who knows if anyone will remember last April’s episode of “L’aria che tira”, the La7 talk hosted by Myrta Merlino, in which De Luca himself, when asked if Renzi (himself) had made a phone call to Dafne Musolino , he replied like this: «Dafne doesn’t answer the phone to anyone unless she asks permission from me, like good Sicilians». A phrase that did not please many, not even the person directly involved. But the friction, or at least the first differences of opinion, start from afar. For example, the words of sympathy written by Musolino towards Carlotta Previti did not go unnoticed, in the aftermath of the latter’s resignation from the Basile council and, therefore, farewell to the De Luca project.
It is surprising, today, to observe how the two leading councilors of the then De Luca council, Dafne Musolino and Carlotta Previti, the latter long indicated as a possible candidate for mayor, before the choice fell on Federico Basile, have today chosen others streets. Musolino with Renzi, while Previti collaborates with the Melonian Elvira Amata. The sign of how and how much, in recent years, many things have changed within the Deluchian team. That “something to clarify within our party” that Gallo spoke of is not something isolated. First De Luca, at the conclusion of the regional elections, had sent harsh messages to him. And the fact that in less than a year the Basile administration lost the majority in the Messina city council was another signal conceived, by some, as an alarm bell.
Today’s loyalists
Today the De Luca galaxy has key men around whom the project revolves: the always faithful, Danilo Lo Giudice and Pippo Lombardo, and then Salvo Puccio, De Luca’s true longa arm inside Palazzo Zanca, and Roberto Cicala. Deputy mayor Salvatore Mondello is another central figure, who however has always wanted to underline his technical role, more than his political one. Dafne Musolino and Francesco Gallo were two of those key figures, especially the former, who has always been held in very high regard by De Luca, who for this reason digested even less having suffered what he, on several occasions, was the master of, albeit in other stages: the “snatch” with a change of shirt.
The concrete risk is that, once the parenthesis (not appreciated by everyone within the party, even if no one will ever admit it) of the Brianza elections is over, De Luca finds himself without the two national parliamentarians who represented not only the symbol of a real electoral feat , but also a political presence in the capital without which the specific weight, at certain tables, is destined to decline. And in the midst of the long eve of the European Championships, Cateno De Luca knows he can’t afford it.