Campania, De Luca attacks: "No to pacifiers in command". Tension with Conte on Fico

Naples – High tension in the Campania center-left over the choice of the candidate to lead the Region.

During the Hippocratic Oath of the new doctors, the governor Vincenzo De Luca he launched a harsh attack: "The donkeys cannot lead Campania. We are not all the same".

A clear reference to the hypothesis of candidacy of the former president of the Chamber Roberto Fico, supported by the M5S and in pole position in the center-left, but disliked by the outgoing president, excluded from the third mandate by the Constitutional Court.

Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte responded immediately: “The candidate will be chosen by the territories, not by a single person”. The M5S, in national agreement with the PD, aims to express the next governor, but there are no reports of discussions between De Luca, Conte or Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein. Sandro Ruotolo, from the PD secretariat, tones things down: “I don’t see any pacifiers. We are working for an expanded centre-left. Our opponent is Meloni”. Criticism also from the centre-right: “Campania is not De Luca’s fiefdom”.

A month after the Constitutional Court ruling, the climate remains incandescent. Fico intensifies his presence on the territory, often alongside the mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi, a symbol of the “wide field”. De Luca, who does not hide his disappointment by calling some politicians “molluscs” or “illiterates”, insists: “I will not leave Campania in the swamp”.

Among the hypotheses, the governor could push for a loyalist like Fulvio Bonavitacola or Lucia Fortini, but the PD and M5S do not seem willing to give in. Alternatively, De Luca could run as a top candidate to influence the future government or, in an extreme scenario, break with the coalition by supporting an alternative candidate. The next few weeks will be decisive in untying the knot.