Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
SYRACUSE – The heated exchange within Syracuse’s centre-right shows no sign of abating. After statements by Vincenzo Vinciullo (provincial secretary of Grande Sicilia), who had invited Fratelli d’Italia to look at the political situation in Avola before criticising the balance of power in the provincial capital, comes the unequivocal reply from Luca Cannata, a national MP for FdI.
Cannata refocuses attention on the city’s political axis, demanding a clear and unambiguous stance on the threatened no-confidence motion against Syracuse’s mayor, Francesco Italia.
“I am not the mayor of Avola; Syracuse needs clarity”
In a strongly worded note, the Fratelli d’Italia MP responds to Vinciullo’s jab by rejecting any tactical diversion:
“Vincenzo Vinciullo is trying to shift the political debate from Syracuse to Avola, but he is forgetting one fundamental detail: I am not the mayor of Avola, and I have never asked the mayor of Melilli, Peppe Carta of the MPA, to join his municipal executive,” Luca Cannata begins. “The real issue here is simple: does Grande Sicilia truly want to help build an alternative to the Italia administration, or does it intend to keep supporting it?”
“I have no problem sharing a united political path with all centre-right forces across every town in the province,” Cannata stresses. “We have shown this clearly in practice, as in the recent local elections in Lentini, where Fratelli d’Italia backed the MPA’s mayoral candidate. I will not therefore accept lectures on consistency from someone who, rather than answer a straightforward question about no confidence in Syracuse, prefers to change the subject.”
Attack on past positions: “What has changed about Francesco Italia?”
The national MP then points to the shifts and contradictions in assessments of the current mayor’s performance:
“I wonder if we are talking about the same Vinciullo who for years fiercely attacked the Italia administration, even calling it a failure and supporting the need for a no-confidence motion,” Cannata denounces. “Is this the same Vinciullo who judged the mayor politically inadequate? What has changed in the meantime? First, mayor Italia was not good enough, and now he must be defended?”
“We await clear answers from Vinciullo and Carta”
In conclusion, the Fratelli d’Italia figure reaffirms his party’s determination to see it through, calling for precise commitments from allies as well:
“Vinciullo is splitting hairs, but the issue remains purely political. I have not asked him to choose between me and anyone else. I have asked the centre-right to be consistent with its own positions and, faced with the chance to oust an administration it has criticised for years, to show with actions which side it is on. Discussion of the coalition across the province is always possible, and I have never shied away from it, but it cannot become an excuse to dodge political responsibility in Syracuse. Vinciullo should rest easy: Fratelli d’Italia will continue working to build a credible alternative. Now we await a clear answer on the no-confidence motion from Vinciullo and Carta. Everything else is just an attempt to shift attention.”
