Just a week after the local elections of May 24 and 25, expectations at the national level regarding the results achieved have been and are many, and probably rather illusory in terms of verisimilitude with respect to the outcomes of the next political elections.
In Venice, the candidate supported by the center-right, incumbent councilor Simone Venturini, prevailed. In Reggio Calabria, the center-right also prevailed with Francesco Cannizzaro, supported, in this instance, by Azione. The center-left prevailed in Tuscany, in the municipalities of Prato and Pistoia, with Arezzo in the runoff. Vincenzo De Luca won by a very large margin in Salerno, triumphing in the first round and no one could doubt it, while Vladimiro Crisafulli prevailed in Enna. Interestingly, both Vincenzo De Luca and Vladimiro Crisafulli were supported by the center-left, although without the Democratic Party symbol in the coalition.
Rather than surprising, the results were a pure and simple visual representation of the balance of power already existing in the respective territories. Therefore, there is no question about this. If one were to make a comment, it would be precisely the result achieved by Vincenzo De Luca, who confirmed himself as the undisputed leader, about whom no one could doubt, and which serves to reaffirm his power of attraction to voters regardless of symbols. The same can be said for the result achieved by the center-left in Pistoia after a decade of center-right administration. However, trying to see in the results of this post-referendum election a reflection of the potential outcome of the next general election remains a pure and simple, if fallacious, speculative exercise in style. We must not delude ourselves, because the meaningful meaning of each of these elections is, and cannot be, anything other than local, inextricably linked to the level of rootedness and trust shown by individual candidates in their respective territories, regardless of the coalition or political party they represent.
On the so-called "political" level, the dynamics are different, likely linked to the national impact of domestic foreign and economic policy choices. If one really wanted to comment, one should rather acknowledge that the vote cast in the very recent local elections highlights a certain independence of local politics from what is represented and idealized by leading national politicians. What seems to emerge, if we were to project the outcome of the last election, is that, ultimately, neither coalition has made any significant statement. One senses a certain fluidity in the outcome that cannot be underestimated. Neither the center-right nor the center-left can truly interpret the results of the last election as unequivocal and/or favorable to either party, because in reality, those results offer no reassurance to either coalition.
The local elections have no connection to the referendum results and will have no connection to the upcoming general elections. The outcome of these elections will likely reflect the apparent weariness of citizens toward national decisions in the face of ongoing conflict and the resulting economic crises. It will likely be the "shopping cart" that will influence the vote in the upcoming general elections.
Giuseppina Di Salvatore – Lawyer, Nuoro
