“My hope is that Forza Italia will not vote, in the Council of Ministers and in Parliament, on any agreement with individual Regions if the Lep (Essential Levels of Performance, ed.) are not fully funded first and if there is not the mathematical certainty that certain agreements could cause damage to the South”. Thus Roberto Occhiutodeputy secretary of Forza Italia and governor of Calabria, regarding the application of the reform of differentiated autonomy and referring to the agreements on both the so-called Lep and non-Lep matters. Occhiuto said this while speaking at the party’s National Council.
Recalling the doubts expressed «on the ways and times of the approval of the law», Occhiuto added that «the Calderoli bill, unfortunately, has reached the final approval of the Chambers without at the same time reaching the goal of overcoming the historical expenditure. I hope that Forza Italia, as our leader Antonio Tajani has always said, will put at the center of its action precisely the overcoming of territorial differences, definitively shelving the historical expenditure in favor of standard needs».
“I have expressed some doubts about the reform of differentiated autonomy, but I agree word for word with what Antonio Tajani has supported. The party is united. The law probably deserved further study, but I am very grateful to my party because if this law does not divide Italy, it is thanks to the work done by my party”. According to what we learn from those present, this is what was said by Roberto Occhiutovice-secretary of Forza Italia and governor of Calabria in his speech at the party’s National Council underway in Montecitorio. On the reform of Autonomy, Occhiuto had in fact expressed reservations that were later included in orders of the day signed by FI to the text of the Calderoli bill. Occhiuto then reiterated that, for his part, the objective was not to introduce “differentiations on the subject” but that “the right is the duty to say what one thinks in a united party”.