The Lombard coordinator of Forza Italia: “Marta Fascina opens the heart of our community, we will return to the 2014 Europeans in double figures”

MILAN. «The first thing President Berlusconi asked us after the Milan convention was how many there were. When I confirmed to him that on Saturday alone we had between 3 and 4,000 visitors, including a thousand under 35, he said “Wow” and complimented us. Now the goal is to structure ourselves even more on the territories. In Lombardy, for example, where there are 1504 Municipalities, by the end of the year we would like to have at least 800 local presidents». The honorable Alessandro Sorte, 39, from Bergamo di Treviglio, the new Lombard coordinator of Forza Italia, is considered one of the rising stars of the party together with the youth manager Stefano Benigni, the delegate of the Montecitorio classroom Alessandro Battilocchio and the undersecretary Tullio Ferrante. All very close to Berlusconi but also to his partner and deputy Marta Fascina.

Honorable Sorte, those who expected to see the honorable Fascina at the two-day event “La forza dell’Italia” were disappointed…
“You play the role that opens the heart of our community. Together with President Berlusconi, you are closely following everything that happens. Even for the Milan event, the president has taken care of everything in detail, from the programs to the calendar of interventions, to the proposals. We feel strengthened by this person who also never stops working at San Raffaele».

In the video message Berlusconi said that Forza Italia is the backbone of the majority. Don’t you risk thus flattening yourself too much on the government? The European elections are in a year and there you vote with proportional representation…
“I think quite the opposite. In the European elections we aim for a useful vote. We are part of the EPP which is the first group in Europe. We ask you to give us strength because within the EPP we can truly influence EU policies. Everything will go through the Ppe. And then I see that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has a very prudent and balanced style, in line with what has always been Berlusconi’s style”.

What do you think of the hypothesis that the former Lombard governor Roberto Formigoni could run right in the European Championships for Brothers of Italy?
«Recently Formigoni wrote a book entitled “A popular story”. I think that story is much more related to us than to anything else. We are the polar party…”

In recent weeks you have welcomed two excellent disappointments: Caterina Chinnici, who left the Democratic Party, and the former pentastellato Giancarlo Cancelleri. What would you do if some disappointed Third Pole asked you to enter or to return?
«I think that whoever has the responsibility of managing a large party must have the mentality to open up and strengthen it every day. We must not exclude or not include in order not to have internal competition, which was the great defect of the Second Republic. We count on being attractive and growing».

Let’s try to name a few. What would you do if Maria Stella Gelmini or Mara Carfagna rang the bell?
“Let’s see if they get to the door. Then we will give an answer.”

Many expected Berlusconi to seal the new status of Antonio Tajani in the video message. Instead it didn’t happen. How come?«
We didn’t expect an extra word, and neither did Tajani. Tajani is Foreign Minister and is also the national coordinator of Forza Italia. He doesn’t need investitures. It seems to me a somewhat artfully fueled controversy after Forza Italia for two days proved to be a party of flesh and blood and certainly not a plastic party. We are on the right track.”

The group leader in the Senate Licia Ronzulli, but also Giorgio Mulè, from the Milan stage warned against the risk of losing one’s identity. Do you think this risk is real?
“We are distinct within the center-right from both the sovereign right and the conservative nationalist right. We are liberal, moderate, popular. There is a very interesting political space that we want to develop and the fact that Berlusconi has given us the mandate to strengthen this machine means that there is a desire to develop this political area and to be collaborative and loyal protagonists of the centre-right».

Ronzulli also launched a dig at those who left the party and then rejoined it. Many thought it meant you and Stefano Benigni, who some time ago joined the movement of Giovanni Toti…
“On the day of Berlusconi’s return, where he shoots a 21-minute video from San Raffaele with uncommon courage and willpower, do you think I can start answering or arguing with someone or something?”.

The former group leader in the Chamber Alessandro Cattaneo said that the party must be “contestable”. What do you think?
What does contestability mean? For me it means a party where territories count. Berlusconi, once again, has anticipated everyone. I am thinking of the role of Flavio Tosi in Veneto, Marco Stella in Tuscany and others. But I’m also thinking about my personal career: in Lombardy I was the youngest councilor for infrastructure in Italy. Our goal must be to put the territory back at the center to return in double figures to the 2024 European Championships”.

She is from Forza Italia while his wife, Matilde Tura, is the leader of the Democratic Party in the city council in Treviglio. What did you tell her after you thundered against the “communist danger” in your opening speech at the Milanese convention?
«My wife is not only the leader of the Democratic Party but she also supported Elly Schlein in the primaries. She has her own ideas and doesn’t deviate an inch. Me too. But since I didn’t find any suitcases outside the door on Saturday evening, I’d say that once again the danger has escaped…”.