How did he spend half a billion in 10 years? –

The flood in Emilia Romagna ignites the political clash with an exchange of accusations between the majority and the opposition that begins early in the morning and continues for hours, while in the territories the emergency gives no respite, in Ravenna as in Forlì and in the Bologna area. From Fratelli d’Italia the attack is directed at the Region governed by the center-left that will go to the polls on November 17 and 18: “What is happening in these hours is frightening, unacceptable, and for this I hope that those who made mistakes pay”, thunders the deputy Daniela Dondi, echoed by her colleague Alice Buonguerrieri and the senator FdI Marta Farolfi, who threaten “reports to ascertain responsibilities”. For MP Mauro Malaguti, “the regional council of Emilia Romagna has not even learned the lesson of 2023, when it did not spend even a third of the money allocated for prevention. Now we will also have to witness the opposition’s showmanship that will complain about the lack of funds for flood victims and the lack of reimbursement for damages”. The opposition has given an initial response in the Chamber to the barrage of Fratelli d’Italia, asking for an information from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: “I would like to ask the Prime Minister if she will once again put on her rubber boots to go and promise money that has never arrived – Angelo Bonelli (Avs) says in the Chamber – Come here and tell us what you want to do, do not go to Confindustria and say that the Green Deal and the ecological transition are a disaster. You are a disaster for not looking at the damage caused by the climate crisis”.

FdI group leader Tommaso Foti immediately replies: “We do not accept speculation from a left that wants to attribute blame to the Meloni government, because the government has done what it should and could do and more”. “There are other responsibilities, and they are on the left”, he cuts short, “this is not the time for controversy, but for truth against lies”. The morning is not over yet and the back-and-forth that fuels the political tension of the day is only just beginning.

The Minister of Civil Protection Nello Musumeci, in a press conference called at Palazzo Chigi to take stock of the situation, states that “the task of structural and infrastructural prevention is the responsibility of the Regions”. It is of little use for the minister to assure his intention to avoid political controversies “that someone, perhaps under the emotional pressure of the upcoming electoral campaign for the next regional elections, would like to fuel”.

The minister is answered by the Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein, who was vice president of the Emilia Romagna governed by Stefano Bonaccini: “While the administrators spent the night managing the emergency, organizing relief and supporting the population, the right-wing government immediately began to engage in political scaremongering for electoral purposes”. Irene Priolo, acting president of the Region, asks the commissioner Francesco Paolo Figliuolo to dissociate himself from Musumeci’s words: “We had deluded ourselves for a moment that, at least this time, the right would not engage in crude scaremongering – she concludes – Not even the night has passed and they have already repeated last year’s film, spreading fake news and multiplying attacks for electoral use and consumption”. It will rain again. But the emergency, the victims, the damages difficult to calculate, do not stop the political brawl.