The elections of Palermo according to the German newspapers: “The mafia lives”

The moral question in the Palermo elections becomes a case in the German press. The Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of the most important newspapers in Germany, dedicates an extensive article to Roberto Lagalla, the candidate supported by the center-right who obtained the support of two convicted of mafia-related crimes: the former governor Salvatore Cuffaro and the former senator forceist and right-hand man of Sivlio Berlusconi, Marcello Dell’Utri. “The mafia lives” is the title of the piece that traces the long Sunday of the city, between seats settled late, turnout at historic lows and the football match that brought Palermo back to Serie B.

The article, signed by Oliver Meiler, starts from the long administration as mayor of Leoluca Orlando who “fought the Cosa Nostra for 37 years” giving the city the greatest gift: “legality”. The German newspaper traces the poisons of the electoral campaign of the capital where the center-right has established himself: it tells of Lagalla’s choice to desert the ceremony of 23 May, after the harsh indictment of Maria Falcone, sister of Judge Paolo, who from the stage of the “La Repubblica della memoria” demonstration he had asked the former rector Lagalla to distance himself from Cuffaro and Dell’Utri.

In the reportage, one wonders if Lagalla will participate in the commemoration of May 23 with the sash of mayor next year or if he will leave the chair empty again. But in the meantime, July 19 is just around the corner, the day of the Via D’Amelio massacre. “I will absolutely go to the commemoration,” Lagalla said. “People choose football”, headlines the newspaper inside: if only 41 per cent of those entitled to vote went to the polls, the stadium was full on Sunday evening.

This morning Orlando phoned his successor to warn him that the counting operations are starting “in the final phase” and to wish him well: “I told him – says the outgoing mayor – that the city has a heritage that cannot be dispersed in terms of rights and the fight against the mafia “. Lagalla is expected to take office on Thursday, thus closing the long Orlandian season, mayor for 22 years, five non-consecutive terms, the first in 1985. The outgoing mayor, who has a very ancient connection with Germany, has also been interviewed in recent days by the Frankfurter Allgemeine and from the German TV Ard.