Calabria, Tridico withdraws reservation: available to run for office

'Yes I am available. If all the progressive forces are there, I confirm my availability to run for the presidency of the Calabria Region'. With these words, Pasquale Tridico, MEP for the 5 Star Movement, withdrew his reservation. In all likelihood he will be the centre-left candidate in the regional elections in Calabria in early October. In the previous hours it had been the M5S leader himself, Giuseppe Conte, who had confirmed Tridico's candidature in Calabria (together with Vittoria Baldini and Anna Laura Orrico), defining the former president of the Inps 'a widely appreciated personality who, in a logic of service, we offer as a precious resource to the citizens of Calabria'.

"Today I feel a strong duty to give back to my land what it has given me: the strength to believe that nothing is impossible, if you face it together with hope," M5s MEP Pasquale Tridico wrote on social media, confirming that he had given his "availability to President Giuseppe Conte, to the M5S community, to all progressive forces and to all Calabrian citizens, for a candidacy of mine for the Presidency of the Region" Calabria, "because this land deserves public health that works, real work for young people, legality, welfare, investment, development and dignity. Calabria deserves a future where staying is not a condemnation, but a choice of life'.

These are also crucial hours for Calabria. The polls go to the polls on 5 and 6 October. And on 6 September the deadline for submitting candidacies expires. A post by Tridico on social media a couple of days ago, with a photo of a long table and the message 'Calabria, my land', had been interpreted as a clue, but in the last 48 hours the person concerned had still expressed doubts. In the PD, however, there was a sceptical look at other candidates that the M5s could express, such as the deputy Vittoria Baldino and Anna Laura Orrico (the latter is the M5s regional coordinator). Tridico's is seen as the only non-divisive M5s candidature. While Avs insists on Flavio Stasi, mayor of Corigliano-Rossano.

And these are also hours of reflection in the centre-right. After his resignation, Roberto Occhiuto announced his intention to run again, but in the coalition - in the event of a worsening of the judicial framework - the opportunity to envisage a 'Plan B' is gaining ground. The hypothesis that Giorgia Meloni could put Luigi Sbarra's card on the table has also been circulating, but only denials have arrived, with the former CISL secretary being assured that he would not have given any availability for the Regionals, remaining focused on the role of undersecretary for the South.