Single City, Iacucci: "Caruso aware of everything. I do not agree with the judicial route"

The divided center-left. There is the political one and, then, the… judicial one. Let’s start with the first.
“We did a great job. Can I say it all? We honored the “shirt”, the opposition regional councilors must do this. The sterile head-on confrontation is useless. We had to improve what we could within a law that was not wanted. During the discussion on the Single City in the regional council, we did this. We will not talk about it before February 2027 and after a popular consultation. That is no small thing…”.

Franco Iacucci, regional councilor of the Democratic Party, is more than satisfied. He considers the work done to obtain the postponement of the birth of the single city a masterpiece of mediation by the main opposition force in the regional council.

The councilor is oozing satisfaction from every pore…
«But yes, that’s how it is. It is not clear otherwise what purpose an elected representative in the council should serve for citizens to protect their rights and interests. We do not govern. We would never have even thought of a conurbation by law and coercion. We would never have stripped the powers and competences of the respective city councils, which you will see will actually be necessary to move forward and thanks to our intervention. After that, if you cannot move the wall further, you have to accept it. And find another solution …».

Is that what you did, I understand, by going around the wall?
“Yes, that’s right. We did it by pursuing the most democratic of solutions possible. And not alone…”

What do you mean? That the Democratic Party was not completely alone while following this path in the regional council?
«We carry out our role with scrupulousness and autonomy, but also with respect, precisely for the things I said in the introduction, for the mayors».

Does this mean you also heard from the mayor of Cosenza Franz Caruso?
English: “We would have contradicted ourselves if we had not done so. Because I believe, and I think I can also speak on behalf of other colleagues, that the best solution is the one resulting from discussion and democratic dialectics. And today I can say without fear of being contradicted that the mayor of Cosenza and his prime minister have spurred us and encouraged us to find the best solution, in order to find the most sustainable and acceptable of solutions. So much so that I am not declaring anything exceptional if I say that we met the mayor of the city and the prime minister in his room before the session of the regional council to define strategy and position. For us, the goal was not to safeguard the end of the Caruso experience’s mandate, but to have more years to define relationships, connections, balances and harmonization in bureaucratic and government processes. For this reason we have opened a dialogue with the center-right majority, not to make deals, children of a downward logic of the past, but to guarantee the time necessary to metabolize these processes. Hence the date 2027. Does this seem like little to you!

So, a victory for everyone?
“For us it is the affirmation of our role as opposition. Others, who are currently marginal in the decision-making processes, oppose the approved text only because they are bypassed in the dialogue.”

What is the real political meaning of what happened?
“We have contributed to improving a law that we did not want. And then, let me say it without hesitation and pretense: the single city of the urban area of Cosenza has already been designed on the streets and among the people for at least 30 years, everyone knows it and lives it. When the referendum will be held, the citizens will have their say and I want to see who will be able to ignore their vote”.

But is it still only a consultative referendum?
“This is also political rhetoric. Tell me one thing: consultative or not, a population will express itself. And how can we not take it into account? Can we consult citizens and then do the opposite? It will be impossible and this is also thanks to our mediation…”

The municipal council led by Caruso, of which you are a part as a party, voted to promote an appeal to the TAR against the referendum and the law: your PD seems confused, what can you tell me?
“The united Democratic Party has followed the realistic path for the construction of the Single City using a democratic instrument such as the referendum and we are convinced that, on the contrary, turning to the judiciary is a sign of little respect towards the citizens. We accept the challenge of building the Single City as a democratic party and we will commit ourselves fully to make it happen”.