Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
“A political project and an autonomist platform; I hope DC will look to our party soon.”
These were the words spoken by Luca Sammartino this morning during the Lega’s press conference, held in Catania at the detached seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly (ARS). On the occasion, the formal switch to the Lega of Carlo Auteri, a member of the Assembly who is leaving Nuova Democrazia Cristiana, was announced.
“We are interested in the political project, not the electoral one,” Sammartino continued, “because Sicily needs a credible project.”
The deputy president of the Region of Sicily then reiterated that the Lega has never questioned Schifani’s re-election bid.
“We are open to discussing with allies over the presidency of the Region,” the Lega’s southern leader also said.
The plan to merge and integrate Democrazia Cristiana with Salvini’s Lega has definitively collapsed due to the chaos and deep internal divisions within DC, as well as resistance and cross-vetoes in Sicily’s centre-right.
The political operation, initially launched to unite parliamentary forces in the Sicilian Regional Assembly and create a large area-based group, failed for several reasons.
Nuova Democrazia Cristiana (historically linked to Totò Cuffaro) has split into a bitter internal war between the faction of Gianpiero Samorì (elected national secretary by acclamation) and that of Carmelo Pace (secretary elected by the national council). This internal feud has led to mutual expulsions, legal notices and parallel congresses, effectively freezing the party’s ability to negotiate unified agreements externally.
In response to rumours of a structural alliance pushed by some Lega figures (such as Luca Sammartino), DC’s official bodies approved formal resolutions stating that “no type of agreement or understanding existed” for joint lists, leaving every decision to be deferred to their respective national congresses.
Regional negotiations failed to find an overall political synthesis capable of satisfying all factions in both parties. The large-scale integration project therefore gradually ran aground.
In practice, rather than a merger between the two parties, the entire operation has been reduced to the individual switch of a single member of the Assembly, Carlo Auteri of Syracuse, who left DC to join the Lega individually, while the other Christian Democrat members chose to maintain their independent path.
