Imperia, the candidate dismissed by La Russa does not withdraw: “I change the posters and go ahead with a gun and a helmet”

“At the Brothers of Italy no one has said anything to me, I’m waiting for someone to deign to explain to me why they no longer support me. But I gave my word and I’m going ahead, the problem belongs rather to others, to a policy that thus sinks into abyss of lack of credibility”. The colonel of the carabinieri Luciano Zarbano, until two days ago the candidate of the Brothers of Italy for the Imperia administrative elections in May, does not agree.

In recent weeks, his investiture by the local coordination of Giorgia Meloni’s party had split the Ligurian center-right: Lega, Forza Italia and Totiani together to support (but without a symbol) the outgoing mayor Claudio Scajola, Fdi alone with him as a candidate. Then came the about-face, imposed directly by the president of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, and Zarbano’s decision to go ahead anyway, regardless of the Roman upheavals. A new, unexpected twist of an electoral campaign that has yet to begin, but already looks like a small popular novel.

Colonel, you were “exonerated” from the candidacy by the party that had bet on you, but how did it happen?

“I, actually, at least officially, have not had any communication about it. I was the candidate supported by the Brothers of Italy, but if it were to end up lacking the support of the party for my candidacy, nothing would change. They can do whatever they want, go with Scajola or even with the Democratic Party, but I take a helmet and a gun and go on my way”.

Excuse me: did you go as far as Rome on Thursday to meet Giovanni Donzelli and Meloni’s loyalists, and didn’t receive any communication about it?

“They wanted to know more about the Imperia scene, and they told me they would let me know. I hope it’s not an “we’ll let you know” kind of thing used in job interviews that go badly. But really: nothing changes for me, I have to go on for the people of Imperia who believe in me, regardless of the parties that support me”.

Did you feel betrayed, you who define yourself as a “man of the right”, “of honor”, and of “military education”, to be treated like this?

“I’ll answer you with Shakespeare, who considered himself a happy person because he didn’t expect anything from anyone. People separated before God, imagine if I don’t understand that one can change one’s mind in politics. For now I don’t feel betrayed, then when will they deign to tell me something, we will see”.

How do you explain the choice of party? Do you think it was taken out of distrust of you, or for issues of relations within the centre-right?

“I don’t know. Theirs is a choice that contradicts itself regardless of where you look at it. If they wanted a politician to consolidate the front, Scajola cannot be defined as center-right. If they wanted a civic, I’m sure I’m more pure civic And in general, it seems to me that this city needs administrators capable of listening more than professionals in politics. I have been accused of not being a professional politician, but I remember that the professionals built the Titanic, the amateurs the Ark of Noah”.

About Biblical references. Are you sorry that Fdi’s decision to withdraw support for his candidacy came directly from the secretariat, communicated by La Russa but in fact endorsed by Giorgia Meloni?

“Giorgia Meloni won the elections because she was consistent in everything, consistency pays off. Let’s say I’m sorry for politics, in general, which with these dynamics sees not breaches opening up, but chasms of credibility. If only culture starts to count of victory at all costs and the race to plant flags, I’m starting to understand why only 40 percent of Italians vote”.

Were you asked to withdraw from your candidacy?

“I am well aware of my choice to go ahead anyway, even alone, it has not been and will not be appreciated. Also because the more I go on, the more support I gain”.

Are you alluding to Mayor Scajola? Will you support him in the Municipality, if he wins the elections again? The polls, before the Fdi step back, gave it between 7 and 8 percent. What are you aiming for now with the united right?

“I’m not saying it, out of superstition and not only. I don’t know if it’s a matter of military education, or a romantic vision of the world, but I still think that one’s word, dignity, one’s ideas count for the good of citizens. A Imperia has been too many years in which decisions have been made without listening to or involving the citizens, that’s why the page needs to be turned over. I’m in the military, but that’s exactly why I know that everyone should be listened to before making decisions. A good commander is based on listening to his major state”.

Next stop now?

“Next week we will present the list, we already have the candidates and they are seasoned. The billboard campaign for the city will start after the 15th”.

How did you do with the electoral posters after the Fdi decision?

“Fortunately we hadn’t given the go-ahead to print yet. We made new ones, in which I had the slogan with the centre-right word in the symbol replaced by an even more beautiful phrase, “For an Imperia without masters”.