Two open fronts make Christmas in Messina politics particularly eventfulopening up to possible future scenarios yet to be deciphered. It is not yet clear how the provincial elections will end, which in one way or another will have to take place by next spring, for the rest there are no imminent appointments with the polls, which leaves ample room for maneuver to those who, in this historical phase, he weaves plots useful for building or breaking down alliances and strategies. However, the two cases that are taking center stage these days – the clash between the Basile administration and Marcello Scurria, with the far from irrelevant participation of governor Schifani; the internal disagreements within the Democratic Party, after the congress which elected Armando Hyerace to the provincial secretariat – deserve to be analyzed because, directly or indirectly, they end up involving many of the political forces of the constitutional arc.
In the back and forth between the mayor Federico Basile and the sub-commissioner for the redevelopment Marcello Scurria, which arose around the auction sale of some properties in the southern area of the city, it became politically relevant in light of the position taken by the President of the Region, Renato Schifani. Who intervened in the matter not to erect a wall in defense of the person he had appointed to the commissioner’s office, Scurria, and who is politically closer to him (even if the person concerned denies any relationship with Forza Italia), if only for the link with the Forzista undersecretary Matilde Siracusano; but to essentially endorse the mayor’s doubts and ask Scurria himself to be accountable and right, even ordering him into a sort of press blackout. Not the reaction that was expected, but the one that is perhaps more in line with what has been happening for weeks now in Palermo, where the atmosphere has completely changed in the relations between Cateno De Luca and Schifani, from enemies to almost allies, or in any case subjects in dialogue. This is also demonstrated by the tone of recent days in the discussion on the stability law and which confirms, in some way, the “turn to the right” announced by De Luca himself in recent months, when he initiated the change in overall strategy of South calls North. A change of strategy which is also evident in the new position, much less barricaded, on the Strait Bridge, and which brings among its fruits, as we tell on page 13, also an agreement on the former Sanderson area, which for some time De Luca asks that the Region return it to the Municipality.
Signs, clues and a sensation: that Scurria can take on the role of the sacrificial lamb on the altar of this new political dialogue. In this sense, Matilde Siracusano’s own silence on the matter is not a good signal for the sub-commissioner for redevelopment, who for months has been indicated by a broad civic cross-section (but with a centre-right orientation) as a possible future mayoral candidate.
How and to what extent will the scenario change what is happening these days?
In all of this the Democratic Party seems to want to forcefully claim the innate ability to harm itself. In a historical moment in which – finally? – there is no figure identifiable as dominus in terms of membership, votes and influences, a real congress took place, which brought together two long-standing militants, who have worked their way through the ranks and followed paths that in some cases overlap , in others distant, but always recognisable. Armando Hyerace won, albeit slightly, and is the secretary; Alessandro Russo achieved an important result by gaining a political role.
But from the minute after the election, the arguments and conflicts of positioning resumed vigorously, despite the fact that important signals had also arrived from the last congressional assembly, with the presence of representatives of the progressive area of Italia Viva, the 5 Star Movement, of the world trade union. What emerges is the image of a fractious Democratic Party, which despite having a fragile electoral base continues to turn in on itself, rather than running as candidates externally as leader of that same progressive area. Cui prodest?, one wonders.