Culture and health: these were the themes at the center of the first direct confrontation between the two main candidates for the presidency of the Calabria Region, Roberto Occhiuto for the center -right and Pasquale Tridico for the center -left. The comparison was held as part of the “Sciabaca” festival organized in Soveria Mannelli (Catanzaro) by the publishing house Rubbettino, and had as its theme “Books, libraries and policies for reading”, edited by AIE (Italian Editorial Association): to moderate the publishing of the “Corriere della Sera”, Francesco Verdirami.
In Calabria – Tridico began – we have to change step and above all program. My proposal is to find 3000 thousand operators and then direct loans where there is a culture to bring out, as in the internal areas or in the archaeological sites or in the libraries that have no librarians, then – explained the candidate president of the region for the center -left – to have a cultural garrison in every municipality, also as a fight against the ‘Ndrangheta. All this is done with an expense of 100 million ». Second Occhiuto «It is also appropriate to transpose other sensitivity. To several intellectuals I asked to work with universities with the aim of creating a consultation on the culture that gives indications, a consultation that grabs not to the region but to the universities in order to release it from regional governments. In short, I would like a government participated in culture ».
Skirmishes on the theme of health. Tridico highlighted: «Unfortunately in the rallies I cannot fail to talk about tragic facts, such as the deaths determined by the non -arrival of an ambulance. The closure of the hospitals in 2011 was devastating, I could make an easy joke and remember that the center -right was in the government but the truth is that we pay the healthcare twice, with the debt and the travels of hope. It is a complete disaster, which – said the center -left candidate – has not only depended on the Occhiuto but in the last six years to govern it was Occhiuto. We must do something more with the national government: considering the political consonance with the regional government it would have expected more than nothing that was produced instead ».
Occhiuto’s replica: «I understand that my opponent is turning the hospitals in the election campaign but I do not share that he does it with Conte, because the health that I took in the hand left me Conte who appointed Cotticelli who had lost the Covid plan and said he was drugged in a TV interview, Zuccatelli who in the middle of Covid said that to infect was kissed with the language, Longo was a good prefect. But he didn’t know the sector. None of these commissioners made an assumption or invested in euros. In recent years – recalled the center -right candidate – in 2,500 retired: if I had not hired 5 thousand operators and I had not resorted to Cuban doctors we would have all the hospitals closed. Now we have written accounting and in the Lea the Ministry says that Calabria is the region that has grown most of all: these two conditions put us in a position to leave the commissioner and the return plan and finally make the reform of the Calabrian health “.