«I believe that the center-right is in a position to win the elections, especially if it remains distinct from the populist right of Futuro Nazionale». Roberto Occhiuto, national deputy secretary of Forza Italia and president of the Calabria Region, said this on the sidelines of an event at the regional Citadel of Catanzaro.
Occhiuto looks at the Reggio by-elections as a testing ground for alliances: «We will try to demonstrate it in Reggio to make the Calabrian result an example, a compass, also for the national center-right on alliances».
«Politics is one thing, arithmetic is another»
When asked if Vannacci’s challenge is aimed more at the centre-right and Forza Italia than at the centre-left, Occhiuto replied: «It seems so to me. Vannacci does his job. He attacked a political space that exists throughout Europe.”
For the President of the Region, however, “politics is one thing, arithmetic is another”. Any significant result for Vannacci, he argues, would not necessarily translate into a greater chance of victory for the coalition.
«Vannacci may also have an important result but it is not a given that the center-right will win with Vannacci, perhaps it becomes even more competitive if it strengthens the more reformist, more liberal part, which is no longer represented at all, indeed it is represented in the center-left», concluded Occhiuto.