The War of Succession. Rosaria Succurro, elected to the regional council, will have to leave the office of President of the Province and mayor of San Giovanni in Fiore, a step foreseen by law due to the sanctioned incompatibility of the two administrative roles of government with the elective one exercised in the Calabrian assembly.
For the centre-right, this is a political transition that may not be painless: Succurro, the first woman elected to lead the municipality of Sila, a historic “red” stronghold, in the Forza Italia range, will leave a space that may not remain in the same coalition. The relationship between the mayors and the electorate is fiduciary and personal and, therefore, it cannot be taken for granted that it can be automatically left to a designated “successor” as if she were a “legitimate” heir. In the Province, although the centre-right enjoys a stable majority, it is not equally certain that in the event of new elections the centre-right will be able to recompose a cohesive framework to continue to govern. On the opposite side, in fact, the center-left is already organizing itself by focusing on another woman; the mayor of Casali del Manco, Francesca Pisani, elected in May 2023 with a civic list at the helm of the Presilano centre. But there’s more; having lost her position as mayor, Succurro would also lose her role as president of the Calabrian ANCI, a prestigious position to which illustrious exponents of the regional “wide field” aspire.
To stay in the saddle and avoid electoral “adventures” full of unknowns for the center-right, Rosaria Succurro should be appointed councilor in the council chaired by Roberto Occhiuto. The change of role, however, seems to be linked to the modification of the regional statute, already included by the governor among the priorities of the new legislature, but with times that are not yet certain. The change provides for the increase of positions on the council from 7 to 9 and the possible appointment of “undersecretaries”.
In this case, Succurro could resign as a regional councilor, join the executive and remain both president of the Province and first citizen of San Giovannese and head of the ANCI, thus facing the subsequent elections in the local authorities at the time of the natural deadline, with a position of greater strength.
In the meantime, however, the former president of the Province and exponent of the Paola PD, Graziano Di Natale, has dragged her to Court. In fact, the hearing in Catanzaro to ascertain the incompatibility is scheduled for February 4th. «Starting from today» states the Democrat exponent through a press release from his association “La Migliore Calabria” «10 days will pass to remove the incompatibilities. This represents a crucial step to guarantee the transparency and integrity of provincial governance.” How will it end?
