Defeat was expected, defeat of this magnitude was not expected. Rome, which collected as little as 17 votes in the Expo 2030 race, had to lick its wounds and attend the celebration in Riyadh and come second in Busan. It is a very serious blow to the image that unites everyone in their responsibilities, from those who propose the candidacy, to those who push the candidacy forward, to those who have not committed enough. Raggi, Gualtieri, Meloni: they all did their part, contributing to the Capital’s embarrassment.

Two and a half years of election campaign to convince only 17 out of 182 delegates. The change of government from Draghi to Meloni in the middle of the election campaign certainly did not help the Italian capital’s image. It is true that the candidacy is from Rome, but the person who convinces international diplomats of the validity of a project cannot be a mayor, no matter who he is. In this sense, Meloni did very little, did very little, spent very little money publicly and frankly spent even less money, or at least achieved very poor results in private meetings. Agreements (and funds) with Tunisia did not work. Mattei plan for Africa, brotherly hugs with Albania, phone calls with Ursula von Der Leyen. Diplomatic sources say Tunisia, African countries and Albania all voted elsewhere. Few people in Europe chose Rome and Italy. A truly diplomatic Caporetto, whom the Prime Minister did not want to reveal, had sent a second-rate minister, Andrea Abodi, to represent the executive. Yesterday, like a mantra, the figures were repeated by the committee. Saudi Arabia spent 190 million on the candidacy, Busan 160 million, Rome only 30. With no prime minister, no money, with few real investments, just 17 votes seems a logical outcome.

Gualtieri thus appeared like the sacrificial lamb sent to the slaughterhouse in a war whose outcome was almost predictable. The mayor was supposed to be the mayor, but he was also supposed to make up for the government’s shortcomings. It was institutionally correct and aligned with Palazzo Chigi. A unity that is clearly not there and perhaps is not there: in this sense, pay attention to the role of the Jubilee commissioner in the coming weeks. Gualtieri himself exposed himself and, as is normal and right, today he became the main face of this defeat. A defeat that turned out to be a blow to Rome when viewed as a community, unscathed by this defeat (in fact… How much it hurts those who say “It’s better this way”, ed.) and because we are not in love with or interested in the Expo We already had the opportunity to write. A graphic representation of how much the Romans despised the Expo came with the story of the Arab sponsor on the Romani shirt. Yesterday, while waiting for the results, the approval came. There were very few people in the square at the event, which was described as the Expo marathon. If 17 delegates are few and represent a heavy, very heavy defeat, the Romans’ distance is even worse and should make those ruling the city think.

And within this framework of responsibility we also place the former mayor Raggi, who asked for and proposed Rome’s candidacy for the Expo, thinking that only 15 years after Milan, the Bie people could return to reward Italy. It’s a desperate election for his campaign seeking to become mayor again. An election aimed at showing that he and the Five Star Movement are not against big events. A decision born to eliminate the embarrassment of saying no to the Olympics, but a decision that clearly had no belief behind it. Having failed to get elected, he found himself chairman of the audit committee and did not bat an eyelid when the initial plan he presented was completely eliminated and replaced with new ideas.

The Tor Vergata project is interesting, green, sustainable, capable of repairing parts of the city, but – now more than ever it is inevitable to think so – it serves the economic interests of individual private entrepreneurs rather than creating its image. It is the future that Rome wants to show the world. The economic repercussions of the Expo on Rome, the money that would pour into the capital, the jobs that could be done, and the new jobs that would be created were always and constantly talked about, without actually aiming for any purpose. to build a project that envisions an idea of ​​Rome projected into the future. A candidacy was created and advanced to convey how much the city needed the Expo, not the other way around. In the last conversations, we focused on the postcard view of Rome, its history, immortal stories, Colosseum, sunsets, and we thought that Rome and its undeniable beauty would be enough to conquer the Expo organized in the name of Expo. This magnificence was entirely thanks to him. Obviously it wasn’t like that, obviously the rules of the game were not understood and it was no longer enough to define oneself as a Caput mundi in order to be known as a Caput mundi.