Bucci wins in Liguria, disagreement between Renzi and Conte decides elections

In Liguria, where increasingly fewer citizens went to vote (the lowest turnout ever, 45.96 percent, compared to 53.56 percent in 2020), Genoa mayor Marco Bucci won in a photo finish over center-left rival Andrea Orlando ‘in. Bucci, whom the centre-right portrayed as the natural heir to Giovanni Toti (who was forced to leave after being involved in the Genoa prosecutor’s office’s extensive investigation into corruption in the Region), won by a narrow margin of just over one point, with 48.7 percent of the vote. for his opponent who remained at 47.4 percent.

The “fatal” mistakes of the centre-left

Two big questions will dominate the analysis of the defeat, which will invigorate the debate on the centre-left in the next few hours. First, the advantage that Orlando would squander within a few weeks: the Coalition started with a “treasure” of about five detachments, polls in hand, which would evaporate as the days went by. Speaking of real numbers, the latest data is from the European elections held last June; “Campo Largo” had collected 3 percent more than the centre-right in the region. The impression was created that the former La Spezia-born Minister of Labor was perceived as a “fallen from above” rather than a local candidate. The other issue that will definitely be at the center of the discussions is the conflict that took place between the centrists of the 5 Star Movement and Italia Viva, which led to the latter’s departure from the coalition: with a very small gap, when a single vote each weighed like a rock (the final difference between Bucci and Orlando was 7 thousand votes), the “war” between Giuseppe Conte and Matteo Renzi was probably fatal.

In short, the coalition that started out as the favorite could not convince the voters, and the almost 8-point drop in participation explains this very clearly. It is surely Renzi who can claim something between the two claimants, and he will be able to say that Orlando would probably have won if their candidate had not been “expelled”. The M5S leader, on the contrary, received a very negative result; First of all, the conflict between the former prime minister and its founder Beppe Grillo, which has been eroding the Movement internally in recent days, has certainly caused a haemorrhage of votes: some may have abstained, while others prefer the former Nicola Morra, who ran alone and collected almost 1 percent. The 3-0 result the centre-left had hoped to bring home at the end of the election rounds in Liguria, Emilia-Romagna and Umbria failed, with the last two going to the vote on 17 and 18 November.

The debacle of the centre-left in Liguria was attributed to the conflict between Grillini and Renzians, were the results of the main parties of the coalitions; Elly Schlein’s PD rose to 28.6 percent (becoming the first party). region), followed by Alleanza Verdi Sinistra with 6.8 percent. Below these are Orlando Presidente (5.4 percent), 5 Star Movement (5.3 percent) and Action with 1.7 percent. The first party on the centre-right was the Brothers of Italy with 14.7 percent, followed by the Bucci Presidente list (9.3 percent), Lega (8.5 percent), Forza Italia (7.9 percent), Progoglio Liguria Bucci President (5 percent). ,7) follows. ), UDC (1.3) and Alternativa Popolare (0.34 percent).

Bonifazi (Iv): “Conte’s veto of Italia Viva is crazy”

As the voting was almost over, the first comment came from a representative of Italia Viva: “The centre-left rejected Italia Viva because of Conte’s mistake. And to think that Renzi alone received 6,500 preference votes in Liguria in the European elections. And Paita too $4,200. How crazy.” Renzian’s deputy Francesco Bonifazi wrote this on social networks.

Morra’s emergence in Bucci’s tumor (determinant)

During the election campaign, there was a serious communication error by the Regional leadership candidate Nicola Morra with the “Unity for the Constitution” list, which certainly created widespread solidarity against the centre-right candidate: SheetMorra had hinted that the centre-right representative’s lymph node cancer would make him an “interim president” like Jole Santelli, the former governor of Calabria, who died of the incurable disease. “cheating” and “immoral title” but the damage was already done The former 5 Star Movement, which supported the causes of Beppe Grillo (who did not even show up to vote), decisively took back the vote in Orlando. .

Rosato (Action): “Moderate voters stayed at home”

“Unfortunately, the election campaign in the regional elections is even more affected by abstention and the central region on both sides is being punished,” Deputy Minister for Action Ettore Rosato told Rainews24. “The election event has become less interesting for moderate voters who have stayed at home. It is an element to consider, we have to review the political agenda and the communications agenda,” he explained.

Morassut (Pd): “Bucci was defeated in Genoa, this should make us think”

“It is noteworthy that Orlando had a clear advantage in Genoa, where Bucci was running. Bucci was the strongest man the centre-right could nominate, and he lost by exactly ten points in his own city.” Speaking in the RaiNews24 special program, Democratic Party MP Roberto Morassut said this. The Democratic representative then spoke about the events affecting the centre-left: “Beyond Renzi, we need the consolidation of the moderate part of the coalition. Internal events of the 5 Star Movement probably also had an impact on this” Consultation was held with the conflict finding its epicenter in Genoa. But in politics it is never a matter of mathematical sums, so it is not certain that the outcome would have changed much if there had been no break, but the lead was clear. “The Democratic Party could be the key to getting this done, because in a coalition you need someone to hold the helm without diminishing the role of allies.”

Votes of centre-left parties in Liguria

Morassut then talked about the “moral issue” with TotiGate that would not get the centre-right candidate’s votes: “He explained that the moral issue is something that creates effects if it occurs in the centre-left camp. They have always made it an identity issue. It has less impact than the centre-right because that the electorate is characterized by an increasingly generous guaranteeism in nature. But there is no longer a protest on the ‘moral question’, but the move away from the vote is the same”.

Giordano (M5S): “The break from Grilo caused concern”

“I think Morra is taking away everything the Movement needs to go, so I’m happy too, he took away from us the part that doesn’t have a home anymore, so it’s going to be his problem to keep what he was then being taken away from us because we couldn’t deal with it anymore.” Stefano Giordano, provincial coordinator of the Genoa 5 Star Movement, at the Mog in Genoa, where the Orlando committee meets. “We have done everything possible,” Giordano continued, and I am confident in the final outcome of the coalition. The 5 Star Movement is in the middle of the constituent assembly, which is a democratic process, but it is like going to elections. If the congress had been held, every party would have suffered.” The representative of Giuseppe Conte’s party then spoke about the conflict within his party: “This is a conflict that creates anxiety and attention in the electorate,” he concluded.

Malan (Fdi): “Bucci’s victory confirms the right choice made by Giorgia Meloni”

Lucio Malan, president of the Fratelli d’Italia senators, who was also happy about the narrow escape, said: “Looking at what has emerged – he said that when there are only a few chapters left to examine – it is now clear that Marco Bucci will be the new president of the Liguria region. Our opponents have tried everything, but the entire centre-right , a massive confirmation of the lists supporting Bucci emerged, confirming that Giorgia Meloni was right to focus on the mayor of Genoa, to choose the candidacy of a valuable executive, to put the interests of the coalition ahead of others. We are pleased to note the excellent selection result from our list”.

Source: Today IT

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