The Adige of Verona A complicated relationship between the Third Pole and the PD of Verona. Wallner: “They decide if we are influential or indispensable”
(by Stefano Tenedini) In June, Action was a dignified member of the broad field that supported Tommasi. Then a disappointing result made it a not very influential, almost snubbed, buy-in for a whole silent summer. But now, after the national elections have changed the scenario and the weights, the discontent of the PD rains down on the Third Pole, which does not even subtly indicate that it contributed to the defeat of the left. Useful, useless or harmful action? It is not that thinking about the judgment of the Democratic Party he does not sleep at night, but he asks a few questions. And it does.
Let’s rebuild this relationship in fits and starts. At the administrative offices in Verona in June, which led to the election of Mayor Tommasi, Action had collected only 1% of the votes. A result that had disappointed both the party leaders and the voters, explained by the difficulty of establishing a national movement in the area. A month later, the brief Letta-Calenda meeting, skipped in a few days due to the PD’s choice to bring the Greens and the Italian Left into a coalition. Hence the agreement between Action and Italia Viva, which in view of last Sunday’s elections are united in the Third Pole to compete in the center of the political arena.
And we are in the news these days. Good result for Calenda and Renzi, who collected almost 8% nationally and confirmed in the North-East with 8.4% of the Veneto: fourth party after FdI, PD and Lega. Data largely exceeded in the provincial capitals: from 12.9% in Treviso, where it even surpassed the League, to 12.8% in Padua and 11.6% in Vicenza. In Verona it reached 10.66% in the capital, becoming the third party with over 13,000 votes, while in the province it collected about 9%. “An excellent result for a team born only a month and a half before the vote”confirms the provincial secretary of Action Marco Wallner.
The Third Pole will oppose the center-right, soon assuming an implosion of the government. And what do the PD and Verona have to do with it? We get there. The attacks Calenda and Renzi arrive in dense dense especially from a left that instead of looking for the responsibilities of the flop internally, looks around. A Verona arrives in Rome. Even Federico Benini, PD councilor of the Tommasi junta, makes it clear without mincing words: his reasoning is that the center-right wins because the progressive forces have not been able to make a synthesis and have given the country to Meloni, Salvini and Berlusconi. Loud and clear message, but Benini goes further: “In the municipality of Verona, the coalition that supports Tommasi has 48% of the votes and surpasses the center-right. An element that further strengthens the work of the municipal administration “.
Benini’s reasoning (repeated for days by the leaders of the coalition) is that if the left could also count on Action, many single-member seats in the Senate could be contestable. As if to say that the right won because of the third pole, a narrative that among newspapers and social networks is the most popular. Wallner is not at all convinced, even if he does not want to argue. “It is right that we talk about the errors of the left and that even those who administer Verona with Tommasi are aware of them”indulge .. “But he should agree with themselves, given that Benini, after the election of the mayor, had said that with our 1% we had not been decisive. Now, however, he claims that with us in the coalition the center-right could be beaten. So: are we influential or are we indispensable? “
The question is whether Benini speaks in a personal capacity, on behalf of the Democratic Party or the majority, including Tommasi. “Ah, I’d like to know too: in fact, I’m waiting for your answer”Wallner retorts. “We are turning into a real party and our voters are looking for a moderate, liberal and progressive proposal. In Verona there is a civic aggregation disconnected from ideologies, it is okay that we discuss with everyone locally. But we must also ask ourselves if they now want to consider us an ally on the ground or those responsible for their electoral defeat. They also ask themselves why Italians and Veronese preferred to vote for us instead of them “.
Another question arises: Wallner, but what arrangements did you have to get a representation award if Tommasi had won? “No agreement, and we will continue not to make any. It will be not very political, but already explained before the ballot I had that it was put our skills available to the city. Then they didn’t ask us and the tasks went to those who sit on the Council. But the point remains, provided they now consider our votes more “heavy”. Tommasi will decide, we will take note and the voters – ours and theirs – will judge. We do not want to force the hand of the mayor, we support him and approve his work, but an evaluation of the tendencies of the vote will have to be made ”.
Wallner claims the new standing of the Third Pole: “We are the most voted party in the 18 to 24 age bracket both in the country and in Verona, because they have space and we don’t use them as a stopgap,” he explains. “Ilaria Milani, city secretary, is less than 30 years old. Giulia Pastorella, national vice president, a few more. We look at a policy with new responsibilities. 40% of our votes come from moderate leftist voters uneasy along with no-alls. Another band comes from moderate Catholics who disapprove of extremism in every field. Some also come from the moderate right, from a former Northern League productive class: professionals and burned by those who brought down Draghi and, given the crisis, they are looking for solid skills. The signal that the voters have sent to politics is clear: it is time for everyone to assume their responsibilities “.