Thirty days to collect enough votes and allow him to "move" from Montecitorio to Palazzo Madama. The game is interesting and Gavino Manca is aware of it.

Also because the pitfalls for the honorable member of the Democratic Party are not lacking, starting with the names of his opponents in the single-member constituency of Sassari; above all the former president of the Senate Marcello Pera, deployed from the center-right.

It will be a month of passion.
«It will be a difficult campaign for everyone, because it arrived unexpectedly and in the middle of summer. Paradoxically, this can be a positive factor because it will force us to focus on the most important issues without making a fuss. Compared to the Chamber, I will have to deal with a larger college: a challenge that fascinates me because it will allow me to dialogue every day with different territories and needs. Who will be elected will have to interpret the role in a different way than in the past: the cut of the parliamentarians forces to represent larger portions of the population. We will have to be able to multiply the capacity for listening and synthesis ».

Obtaining the ticket for Palazzo Madama will not be an easy task.
«Even if I do not hide the starting difficulties, I am convinced that there are good margins to win this challenge. Thanks to my experience in the representation of the territory refined in the Chamber during this legislature, I think I have a capacity to speak out for the interests and expectations of the local economic world: I believe that the other candidates opposed to me do not have it to the same extent . Anyone who has had anything to do with me in the Productive Activities Commission knows that when I take a topic to heart, I move with constancy and determination ».

One of his opponents is Marcello Pera, what challenge will it be?
«I have great respect for President Pera, a man of culture and institutional experience. I do not think, however, that on the island he has the knowledge and the roots to understand and become a credible spokesperson for the demands of a territory unknown to him. After the reduction in the number of parliamentarians, the election of a representative from outside the island would further weaken the voice of Sardinia ».

Will the Democratic Party be the first party in Italy?
“Ours is a party that has contributed several times in the last fifteen years to putting the country's accounts in order after the disasters committed by the center-right. The Democratic Party does not seek easy consensus, unlike the center-right that chases the polls. I am sure that the Italians will reward our reliability ».

In this legislature the principle of insularity was finally sanctioned in the Constitution: the future?
«The future is to act together to implement it in a concrete way and fill it with contents. The introduction of the principle is an important achievement but there is still a lot of work to be done. We must be able to explain that together with the insularity we have in common with the other islands, Sardinia suffers from greater isolation due to the distance from the mainland. It is a battle that, I am sure, all Sardinian parliamentarians will carry on together. It would be nice if the island population, after having supported this constitutional change, were now involved in defining the concrete contents ».

Recipes to solve the historical problems of Sardinia: infrastructures.
«We must not waste the opportunity of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, a great opportunity to modernize our infrastructures. There is a need to redesign the internal transport network, road and rail, the system of ports and airports, the renewal of the water system. But it is essential to give the right tools to the Public Administration: we put the Municipalities and the Region in a position to quickly recruit the necessary staff to implement all the projects. Otherwise every effort will be useless ».

Territorial continuity.
“There are topics on which, over the decades, promises and announcements of revolutions are repeated. All remain unfinished and leave disappointment in the Sardinian people. This must be the legislature that tackles the problem in depth and from a global perspective. We cannot talk about air transport, for example, focusing only on Sardinian routes and forgetting the crisis that the sector is facing globally. We are paying the price of dynamics on which we Sardinians, alone, cannot affect. Over the years this overview may have been lacking: we are part of an interconnected and complex world economy and Sardinia must find the strength to make its weight felt in this market ».

Expensive-bills.
«We expect a dramatic autumn from a social point of view. Families, businesses, small traders risk ending up on the streets due to rising energy prices. An issue that must be faced with courage and competence also because the crisis is expected to be long. From this point of view, I do not believe that the center-right has the sensitivity and vision suitable for governing such a complex process. Draghi's presence would no doubt have been more reassuring. As Pd we are proposing some strategies: among these, for example, establishing a ceiling on the price of electricity and doubling the tax credit for the extra energy costs of companies ».

Depopulation.
«Another issue that must be addressed in a global and not localistic way. Climate change and economic crisis risk causing large migratory flows from the South (Italy and the world) to the North that are increasingly closed, frightened and repulsive. Sardinia has many cards to play in this scenario but the first answer must be that of work. We increase employment and make Sardinia attractive for external investments. Much of the rest will come by itself ».

Michele Masala

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