Sicily, the regional deputies save the increases in allowances

Sicily, the regional deputies save the increases in allowances

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The president of the Sicilian Region Renato Schifani defined it as a law of stability which marks a change of substance. Someone else, not without irony, has defined it as a stability law which saves the purchasing power but only of the 70 deputies, as the members of the Sicilian regional assembly are called. All thanks to the adjustment to the Istat index with a sharp increase of 890 euros per month which brings the allowance of Sicilian parliamentarians from 11,100 euros per month (of which 4,500 euros as reimbursement of expenses and 3,800 euros for collaborators) to 11,990 euros: an increase of 8 percent, by virtue of a regional law approved in 2014 which provides for the adjustment in the event of an increase in the cost of living.

Micciché: “With the allowance as a parliamentarian, I’ll make ends meet”

Blame it on inflation, therefore, which “has led to an increase in spending from 10,450,000 euros in 2022 to 11,200,000 euros expected in 2023″ is written in the budget of the regional assembly. Rule contested, indeed highly contested by some, even considered harmful to the image of the party by the national leaders of the Brothers of Italy (some even say by Giorgia Meloni), but approved at 4 in the morning by secret ballot proposed by Gianfranco Micciché, former president of the Assembly, on an amendment that aimed to suppress the 2014 forecast and presented by the leader of Sicily Vera Cateno de Luca: «Enough! We are considered the crap of the country, whatever we do – said Micciché -. Enough. We need a shot of dignity. With the allowance as a parliamentarian I arrive at the end of the month and I apologize to those who unfortunately do not get there. But I don’t have villas, I don’t have yachts and I don’t steal, a fuss has arisen over an automatic device. I would have avoided asking for a secret ballot, but unfortunately there are colleagues in this hall who are afraid of demagoguery”.

The pressure from the top management of FdI has been denied

In the courtroom, the president of Ars Gaetano Galvagno (FdI) denied having received pressure from the leaders of his party to cancel the law and thus extinguish the many controversies. «There was no meddling or interference from Giorgia Meloni or Ignazio La Russa. The reality is that automatism has aroused indignation in many Sicilians with respect to the difficult situation of so many people”. A transversal majority gathered around the Istat revaluation. The president of the regional Anti-Mafia, Antonello Cracolici (Pd) opened the ball in a debate that became heated in some moments, who, defending the law, recalled that the Istat adaptation for councilors regional there is also in Lazio, Trentino Alto Adige, Umbria and Sardinia. “For 48 hours this Parliament has been subjected to unjustified attacks due to an automatism provided for by law – said Cracolici -. I am a free man and I am not ashamed to say that I am against the abolition of the rule. I defend the autonomy of this Assembly”. Two councilors of the Schifani government (Mimmo Turano of the League and Roberto Di Mauro of the Mpa) also took sides against the repeal, a position taken in the centre-right by the group leader of the DC, Carmelo Pace. On the other hand, FdI and the deputies of the M5s are in favor of the cancellation. In the end, the secret vote, at 4 in the morning on Friday 10 January, sanctioned the maintenance of the law. And finally, at the end of a 19-hour marathon, the Sicilian Regional Assembly approved the stability law for 2023 with 35 votes in favor and 22 against. A stability law that is worth, on paper, a couple of billion.

Schifani: “A maneuver that looks to the social”

«A financial maneuver that looks at the social aspect – was Schifani’s comment –, at keeping accounts, at the growth and development of the island. A law of stability in which we have provided resources for damages due to natural disasters, for the poor and for numerous categories of workers. It is, however, only a first step on a journey that will continue over the next five years».

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