Outsider, up to a certain point. But with a political weight that is anything but marginal in Sicily. The two loudest “heretics” on the island, Cateno De Luca and Ismaele La Vardera, until yesterday under the same political roof, discussing the same twenty questions, including jabs and open accounts.
Who did better in the last municipal elections? What weight does your movement have today?
For De Luca the verdict of the polls is without appeal: “A triumph”. The leader of South Call North claims the 21% obtained in the municipalities with proportional representation, a result that would consolidate the movement as the largest party on the island with an electoral potential of up to 35%. The supporting role is not enough for La Vardera. He recognizes the weight of De Luca’s Messina result, but claims the “record” of his most symbolic coup: the “political miracle” of Agrigento. What about polls? He remains humble: “They give us over 20%, but we are interested in the desire for change.”
The greatest success and the greatest defeat…
For De Luca there are no doubts: the victory in Messina in 2018 and “a marginal city transformed into a competitive urban system”. For La Vardera, the answer is far from the polls: marriage at 33: “Politics passes, the family remains”. The “setbacks”, however, come from the past: for De Luca it was the candidacy for the Presidency of the Region in 2012, when he received just 1.8%. Vardera goes back to when she was just 18 years old and tried, unsuccessfully, to join the municipal council of her town.
Sicily’s main problem and its strong point?
The diagnosis coincides: healthcare is the number one emergency. For La Vardera it has become the center-right’s “armchair factory” where “political screws are settled”. De Luca broadens his gaze: it is the absence of normality in essential public services such as healthcare, water, waste and mobility. On the strength point, however, the distance is clear. For De Luca it is the insularity, which can become an advantage by exploiting the coast. For La Vardera it is the human factor: “The enthusiasm of the Sicilians”.
Was he ever finally convicted? Investigated or convicted on his lists?
“Seventeen trials, two arrests and I have no criminal record. I have suffered the shame of media trials and lists of unpresentables, but no jackal has ever apologized to me.” For this reason, De Luca’s guaranteeism is total: “Yes, until the final sentence”. While the former Iena makes no concessions: he has an immaculate criminal record and believes that a case-by-case analysis should be carried out, but he speaks of an absolute bar on the lists (even for those under investigation) for those who have committed crimes against the public administration.
Main source of income and educational qualification…
De Luca is not just a politician, he is a living multinational: manager and consultant of Fenapi (the Caf he founded with 3,500 employees), he declares between 700 thousand and one million euros a year to the tax authorities. He has a degree in Law and he still needs the last two exams to finish the Conservatory. Vardera stopped at graduation. He only attended the first two years of journalism school because “At the time – he explains – I couldn’t afford to pay for my studies”. Today La Vardera’s only source of income is the salary as a regional parliamentarian, having had to abandon the VAT number as a journalist due to incompatibility.
How is your movement financed?
“The elected representatives – explains De Luca – must pay a share ranging from 15% to 25% of their salary into the coffers of Sud Gioca Nord, then there are membership and self-financing initiatives. The largest portion of the contributions comes from companies, public administration entities and Fenapi”. Going against the grain he is “Franciscan”: “We have just 60-70 thousand euros in the account, almost exclusively the result of the membership of four thousand loyalists, around 10% are free donations, no large contributions, just ordinary citizens”.
The prime minister or the ideal prime minister?
For La Vardera it is Nicola Gratteri. De Luca indicates Giorgia Meloni.
Failed and promoted at national level…
Between Elly Schlein or Silvia Salis De Luca makes use of the right not to respond, considering the two centre-left exponents as representatives of the “politics of likes”. For La Vardera there is no doubt: the best is Silvia Salis. De Luca doesn’t decide between Giuseppe Conte or Angelo Bonelli, “he prefers those who come from the area”, La Vardera, on the other hand, likes both, but without particular preferences. Between Giorgia Meloni and Roberto Occhiuto De Luca chooses the prime minister without discussion for “temperament, courage and that extra edge, typical of women”. La Vardera is peremptory: certainly Roberto Occhiuto “He is doing good things in Calabria”. Matteo Salvini or Roberto Vannacci? Both rejected: “They ride dissent with slogans and jokes that are far from solving the problems.” Finally, for both of them, Pierferdinando Casini wins the challenge with Matteo Renzi.
Failed and passed in Sicily…
In the centre-right house between Schifani and Galvagno both prefer Galvagno. They are divided between Marco Falcone and Giorgio Mulè: De Luca “fails” them both halfway, for La Vardera the best is Mulè. In the centre-left home for both, Michele Catanzaro surpasses Anthony Barbagallo and while De Luca promotes Mirello Crisafulli, La Vardera prefers Sergio Lima.
Who will be the next president of the Region? And that of Ars?
De Luca is convinced of this, despite knowing that everything will depend on the Roman balance. Vardera, however, entrusts the choice to the Sicilians and reiterates that he did not apply to “deal with something else”. For the presidency of the ARS he indicates Nuccio Di Paola, De Luca, however, would confirm the current Galvagno.
For a possible council, the leader of the South calls the North and proposes Nello Di Pasquale, Luigi Sunseri, Fabio Venezia, Antonello Cracolici and Giampiero D’Alia. La Vardera also focuses on Venice, but also on Nino Di Matteo, Riccardo Puglisi, Nuccio Di Paola and Pierpaolo Montalto.
The next mayor of Palermo?
For De Luca, Carolina Varchi is in pole position, certainly not Roberto Lagalla, while La Vardera does not name any names and only hopes that the wide field presents itself with a unified candidate.
Ask the other person a question…
To De Luca who asks “How do you plan to administer Sicily if you have never administered even a condominium? Taking into account that Sicily has unfortunately already had some president on behalf of third parties and that behind him there were many other people…”, Vardera replies: “According to this criterion Schifani should have been a champion and instead the result is there for all to see, I am the finisher of a prepared team and, above all, I claim that there is no mastermind behind my back, ever met Beppe Lumia, behind my candidacy there are only Sicilians who want to change things”. “Cateno – replies La Vardera – are you sincerely happy with the path I have taken and the political family I have created? De Luca’s response is a saber-rattling of rough paternalism: “I am proud of my godson, he has learned the trade well. But imitations do not give the same results as the original. One day while we were walking in Fiumedinisi I told him: be careful of the recoil effect. And I still think so…”.