Emiliano gives the ultimatum to the Democratic Party and announces: “I am not reapplying for the third term”

Emiliano tried to tame a nervous majority for the electoral outcome. And in part he succeeded. The double appointment with the 5-star group – which after the vote claimed a “greater protagonism” – and then the meeting with the majority resulted in a sort of ultimatum for a programmatic relaunch. The meeting was attended by all the exponents of the majority (including the two external assessors, Palese and Maraschio) except the PD Fabiano Amati and Ruggiero Mennea, who have long been very critical of the Emiliano management. But Amati apologized saying that he was invited to a conference in Alberobello, which he had promised not to miss.

It is understood that the threat of resignation (and dissolution of the Assembly) serves to induce the directors to isolate the most critical fringes. Which, as mentioned, Emiliano sees in the Democratic Party but also in the Italian Left. Formation that is not present in the Council, but expresses the councilor Maraschio. The criticism seems to be aimed at the objections to Emiliano’s choices that very frequently come from the party.

Reading the vote on the Politics in Puglia

The electoral outcome had provoked controversial readings. The increase in the result of the Democratic Party (about + 3% compared to the policies of 2018) and the performance of the 5 Stars (which remained firmly the first Apulian party despite the serious setback) had allowed Emiliano to present himself satisfied after the polls. The sum of the center-left with the 5 Stars, he said, are the “majority of the Apulian electorate”. Radically different reading arrived from another part of the Democratic Party which negatively judged the electoral outcome and attributed it to the Emiliano management and to the way in which the electoral lists were compiled (of which the governor is considered co-responsible).

The bills on Arpal and end of life

During the majority meeting it was agreed that on October 4, the two bills on the calendar, which are the subject of lively internal discussion, will not be examined in the Regional Council. The first aims to modify the governance of the Arpal (employment agency) and to sanction the forfeiture of the current director Massimo Cassano, setting requirements that the manager and former senator does not possess. The second proposal lays down provisions for the local health authorities to activate health care programs for the end of life. The PD group, which met in the early afternoon, had agreed that both texts would go to the vote. Emiliano requested and obtained a course correction. The law on Arpal is postponed to a subsequent meeting of the Council: a single rule will be written to reorganize the management bodies of all the regional agencies (it will go to the board of directors with similar formulas everywhere). For the end of life, which is also an ethically controversial issue, Emiliano said that it is not part of the government program and should be set aside.

The meeting with the 5 Stars served to strengthen the alliance with the governor. The pentastellati have asked for attention on the issues of energy, agriculture, welfare. There have been no requests for departments, at least not explicitly. But the pentastellati certainly want to count. They will certainly have a say in the appointments to come: in regional companies and agencies.

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