The day after his designation, Domenico Lacerenza got to work as the centre-left candidate for governor (Pd-M5S-Avs, +Eu) for the Lucanian regional elections on 21 and 22 April.
With the dem secretariat, Elly Schlein, and with the five-star president, Giuseppe Conte
, he discussed the program.
But, during a hectic day, tension rose with the former Third Pole and, above all, there were rumors about a new, sensational twist: in order to broaden the perimeter of the coalition, the focus would be on a new name at the place of the ophthalmologist.
"If you want to win you have to come to an agreement, if you want to lose continue like this", were the words addressed by
Romano Prodi to Conte
during the presentation of the book "Capocracy" by Michele Ainis, in Rome.
The five-star leader's response: "We do not express vetoes, in our course there is a policy with a smile, which respects others, but it is difficult if you have to work with leaders who publicly declare that their objective is not healthy competition , but destroy the M5s".
And in the meantime, towards the European elections in June, the hypothesis of Lucia Annunziata as the Democratic Party's leading candidate as an independent in the Southern constituency
is strengthened .
For Basilicata, however, the decision arrived from Pd, M5S, Avs and +Europa which made the choice official on Lacerenza, a doctor, born in Barletta 66 years ago, but in Basilicata for over 25. A decision openly contested by Italia Viva (
" Unacceptable", for the group leader of IV in the Chamber, Davide Faraone
, the method used by Pd and M5S) and by Action, through the words of its leader
Carlo Calend
a, who will be in Basilicata at the weekend: "It's the M5S, which now decides the politics of the left, to have excluded Action and we have taken note of it".
But the former minister also recalled the weight of Action in Basilicata, strong with the 10% gained in the majority Senate with the former governor Marcello Pittella in the 2022 elections. "I - added Calenda - prefer not to have lost candidates. On the other side, there is" Vito Bardi (Forza Italia) "a moderate pro-European, a man of the institutions, not the 'trux'. We will evaluate and decide".
And the center-right appears ready to welcome representatives of Action and Italia Viva.
In the afternoon, then, the PD opened from Rome: "No preclusion to an expansion of the centre-left coalition, we continue to be united. Once again the PD will assert the reasons for the unity of the coalition".
Concepts also reiterated in Potenza, in the headquarters of the Lucanian dems, at the meeting of the centre-left table, which however was attended neither by the candidate Lacerenza nor by the regional secretary of Action, Donato Pessolano, who, "invited at the last moment", decided not to participate.
Also absent were Italia Viva, Psi and Basilicata Possibile.
Despite Lacerenza's first statement as a candidate ("I started the discussion with the moderate and progressive Lucanian political forces with the priority objective of transforming the platform of ideas and positions on which there was immediate convergence into a complete program") the tension in the center-left coalition is evident.
There is no shortage of discontent even in the Democratic Party itself.
Nobody raises their voice, but there is no shortage of stomach aches due to the lack of involvement of moderate forces.
Much louder, however, was the protest of the supporters of Angelo Chiorazzo, who had been indicated by Basilicata Casa Comune as a candidate for governor.
The step aside by the founder of the Auxilium cooperative and the choice that fell on Lacerenza are pushing several possible candidates for the position of regional councilor to distance themselves.
And so, a week before the deadline set for 23 March, the difficulties in forming the lists ("which, if Lacerenza didn't take a step back, would become insurmountable", party sources whisper) could turn into the decisive step for a new turning point with a sensational change in the running at the helm of the centre-left Lucanian coalition.
Video Basilicata, Calenda: 'The coalition?
We respect the Democratic Party but Conte decides
Mulè, united on Bardi, doors open to Calenda
"In Basilicata the centre-right has very clear ideas and recognizes in Vito Bardi, an expression of Forza a Italia, a virtuous model of administration. As for Calenda and the possible support for Bardi, in my opinion there must be no preclusions because, if it happens, it is because he will recognize himself in the center-right program
. And for us the program is a guiding star in the relationship of loyalty that binds us to the voters."
This was stated by Giorgio Mulè, vice president of the Chamber and deputy of Forza Italia during the Agorà broadcast on Raitre.
Lacerenza: 'I haven't heard from Schlein or Conte yet'
"I hope to be able to stimulate those citizens who have become disaffected with politics." Thus Domenico Lacerenza
, center-left gubernatorial candidate for the Lucanian regional elections on 21 and 22 April.
Lacerenza - supported by Pd, M5S, Avs, +Europa, with the consent of Basilicata Casa Comune - added "we have to talk about programs, not about winning or losing the competition: that is an approach that I don't like".
"I haven't heard from either Conte or Schlein, but a few hours have passed since I was indicated as a candidate,"
said Lacerenza.
"The first people I immediately spoke to were my family members who - she added - supported me in my decision to accept the candidacy".
The ophthalmologist Lacerenza - from Barletta in Puglia, but in Basilicata for over 25 years, is the director of the Ophthalmology Sic (complex inter-company structure) of the San Carlo regional hospital in Potenza - then said that "he was contacted yesterday afternoon" when he participated in a meeting in the electoral committee of Angelo Chiorazzo, who had been indicated by Basilicata Casa Comune as a candidate for governor.
Video Lacerenza: 'As a citizen I will make proposals for citizens'
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