Puegnago Welcomes Prefect Cancellieri in Calls for Reconciliation
After the Christmas storm, which saw Mayor Gianfranco Comincioli present and then retract his resignation within a few days, Puegnago began 2001 with a theme of “reconciliation”: tomorrow, the small Valtenese municipality will host the new Prefect of Brescia, Anna Maria Cancellieri, who will participate at noon in a meeting with the citizens in the presence of the mayor, the municipal council, councilors, and representatives of local institutions. The presence of the government representative was announced by Comincioli last December 30, during a meeting where the mayor publicly announced his decision to withdraw his resignation. The decision, he explained, was largely due to the fruitful and encouraging discussion he had with Dr. Cancellieri.
The Prefect’s visit is therefore expected to be a likely act of support for the institutions of Puegnago, as well as an invitation to resume public life based on civil and democratic dialogue. In recent months, in fact, the town has experienced a climate of particular tension, due to continuous attacks against the mayor and the majority. These attacks have even led to acts of intimidation in the form of anonymous writings and letters.
However, the Committee in Defense of Puegnago states that it is not involved in these incidents, despite being one of the main accusers of the mayor. In recent hours, the group led by Laura Marsadri released a new statement to clarify its position regarding the mayor’s resignation affair. “Our Committee rejects the incredible reasons given by the mayor for his resignation — writes the president —. Comincioli would like to blame our initiatives for his inability to govern the Municipality properly and democratically: but the Committee has always only pointed out, with determination and a spirit of collaboration, the illegitimacies of individual acts and behaviors; especially those aimed at compromising the territory. Our actions are aimed at guiding the operation within the boundaries of legality, within which any administration’s work must remain.”
Reactions and political responses
“The Committee does not see itself as an enemy of the mayor of Puegnago — continues the president — and is certainly not responsible for the anonymous writings he has reported: but, even if Comincioli considers our group an enemy to fight in every way, he will surely not be induced to give up his goals, which should in any case be the same as those of the mayor.” Lastly, the group does not agree with the statements made by the first citizen when he declares that, in support of his withdrawal, he has the backing of the citizens: “So far, he has provided no evidence of this support.”
These are domestic disputes. But the visit of the Prefect also draws reactions from the Gardesan League parliamentarian Massimo Wilde, who has questioned the Ministers of the Interior, Justice, and Finance. Wilde, interpreting the incident in his own way, essentially asks whether “it is transparent for a Prefect to take a position in favor of one political side (the majority), actively entering into a political conflict between parties, citizens, the local committee, and the mayor,” and whether such behavior seeks to “legitimize (also considering the time and day of the meeting, which would prevent broad citizen participation) a situation of local politics for which no legal answers have yet been provided, such as the potential archiving of the cases presented.”