The center right's Rome mayoral
candidate Guido Bertolaso on Wednesday said he will be meeting
conservative coalition member and Northern League leader Matteo
Salvini shortly to discuss an electoral program with top
priorities including neglect, crime and poor services in the
capital.
He cited "shameful neglect, petty crime, the absolute
absence of rules, the dramatic lack of services" and traffic as
"absolute priorities for the city" in an interview with Radio
Cusano Campus.
The former civil protection chief agreed on Friday to stand
for Rome mayor in June elections after his candidature was
launched by center-right leaders Silvio Berlusconi, of Forza
Italia, Giorgia Meloni of Fratelli d'Italia and Salvini.
Bertolaso, 65, said Rome needed to "go back to normal"
citing, among other things, rat infestations near parks for
children, which he hadn't seen "even in Cairo or Mogadishu".
He also called for action to ensure Roma children get an
education, saying a hypothesis was to "revoke the parental
responsibility of those who do not send their kids to school".
Bertolaso on Tuesday raised the hackles of members of his
center-right coalition, including the anti-immigrant Northern
League, after saying that the Roma are a "vexed category".
The mayoral candidate gained praise for his handling of a
number of emergencies including the waste crisis in the Campania
region around Naples.
As civil protection chief, he was also handed from 2001 to
2010 sweeping powers over major events.
He has been investigated for bid-rigging and the 2009
L'Aquila earthquake that killed over 300 people.
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