A certified email (PEC) was sent to the municipal offices yesterday around 6:00 PM, just hours after the proclamation and before the new suspension decree from the prefect of Nuoro arrived. Thus, Franco Saba, re-elected mayor of Ottana despite being under house arrest, appointed his deputy mayor and the new municipal council in an administrative and political transition that could be almost unique.
The document, sent via certified email to the City Hall registry, contains the appointment of the councilors and the structure of the new executive. It was signed by the newly elected mayor, who, despite being under house arrest, was authorized to use telematics and electronic media. The timing is particularly significant. The appointment of the council came just hours between two crucial milestones: the official proclamation of Saba as mayor for his third consecutive term, and this morning's new measure by which Prefect Alessandra Nigro ordered his suspension from office pursuant to the Severino law.
This extremely limited timeframe allowed the mayor to complete one of the most important acts of the new legislative session before the suspension took effect. The matter unfolds in an already particularly complex context. Only the previous day, the Sassari Court of Review had confirmed the house arrest ordered by the Nuoro investigating judge as part of the attempted extortion investigation coordinated by prosecutors Andrea Jacopo Ghironi and Riccardo Belfiori.
Saba was re-elected as the sole candidate in the June 7 and 8 local elections, exceeding the quorum thanks to a 60.79 percent turnout. The subsequent proclamation formally restored the mayor's office, despite the precautionary measure. This made it possible to proceed with the appointment of the council before the prefect's decree, notified the following morning, arrives. It now remains to be seen what administrative consequences this will have and how the municipal government will be managed during the mayor's suspension. This is a unique situation, unlikely to be matched by similar precedents, which adds further institutional complexity to a matter that continues to intertwine judicial, political, and administrative aspects.