More than anyone on the eve of the event marking the thirtieth anniversary of the direct election of mayors, organized by Francesco Rutelli in one of the symbolic locations of his city hall, the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, legitimately expected to hear a lot of talk in the foyer about political and a lot more. Instead, in the Goffredo Petrassi room, witnesses and main protagonists of that season, suspended between nostalgia and memories, contributed, together with the intervention of Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, to stage a partial narrative of the city that in just over a year will welcome the Jubilee. The letters of the alphabet explain the themes of those who take the stage, each speaker can no longer use three minutes to conclude their speech. When there were still a few dozen guests in the room, Rutelli with some reporters present spoke about current political events, in particular about the reform of the position of prime minister: «Can the Italian mayor formula work? The mayor worked very well, but he didn’t live well if he didn’t have a good City Council elected by the people. In a period when parliamentarians are not widely elected by the people. Be careful with that balance.” The implication of his reasoning is too obvious: it is the party leaders who decide the composition of the lists.
Despite only arriving at the audience around 10:30 am, the first big name to speak is the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Paolo Gentiloni: «Rutelli, when he was elected, became the most important green mayor in the world. Many guests came. Rome was a construction site, it was also a political construction site.” The reference to Berlusconism could not be missing: «50 days after Rutelli’s election there was the seizure of power and one hundred days after Berlusconi’s victory. We contribute to the answer. I think this time was good for Rutelli and his team. Today we should not create monuments to memory, but – concludes Gentiloni – celebrate and recognize that it was very important to have been there”. Then, the former CEO of the Roman Agency (a company fundamental in the realization of the Jubilee 2000) Lugi Zanda intervenes, with a video of the former mayors Enzo Bianco and Antonio De Caro, Monica Cirinnà who, with a hint of sadness for her former delegation for the animal rights recalls: «I’m a cat lady and I was elected to the Capitol».
The then vice-mayor Walter Tocci criticized the contemporary center-left, stating while awaiting his speech: “Then came the primaries to cover up the unpreparedness.” At noon, Mayor Roberto Gualtieri arrives at the room and shortly after takes the stage. Behind him appears the transformation T. «We are following the model of Rutelli’s Jubilee. The Jubilee is a gigantic challenge. We – however, behind him, with questionable timing, are projected some representations (images of the final work, ed.) of the city’s numerous construction sites: Piazza Pia, Piazza dei Cinquecento, the C metro stations Fori Imperiali and Vittoriano, Piazza San Giovanni – we started late due to the Prime Minister’s Decree that only arrived in January”. He reveals that he will soon fly over the city in a helicopter to check the progress of the works. Time is running out: the opening of the Holy Door is scheduled for within a year. The bitter truth is revealed by Walter Veltroni: «We cannot put our experience on the table of those who govern today. We are at a stage where urban thinking must be redefined.”
photo Pasquale Carbone / Conterbo Press
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
