(ANSA) - Rome, January 15 - Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said
Tuesday at an ANSA forum that he had not been asked to stand as
Democratic Party (PD) premier candidate but urged the party to
come to an agreement soon.
"No one has ever proposed making me the PD prime minister
candidate. I understand that I am a high profile person in the
center-left. There are authoritative candidates in the primaries
but I will not vote," he said.
Sala noted that he had told others in the party that "we
cannot wait until March 3 of March 17 to begin thinking about
candidates for the EU elections. My appeal is for candidates to
come to an agreement in order not to give our adversaries an
advantage.
He added that he had previously said to other politicians
that "we will not continue to always call the Five Star Movement
(M5S) 'scoundrels'. There are people who used to vote for us
that are now with them."
On the next elections, the Milan mayor said that "there is
space for a left that knows how to interpret change. We do not
engage in electoral calculations but we will build a proposal
that begins with ideas and people. I can contribute but I am 60
years old. I want to see many more young people."
Sala said that he had "promised to fulfill my commitment to
Milan" but "we'll see whether I will run for a second term".
He stressed that benefits being seen in the city were not
only for the rich, since "employment is rising, there are now
200,000 university students and tourism has risen by 10%. Cafes,
pizzerias, taxi drivers and trade are all benefiting."
"Those calling for more autonomy are asking for more funds.
Otherwise it is not nice to bring more skills and then decrease
services. The real point is that the local administration system
in Italy is excessively complicated. I will not say that it is
wrong to have 8,000 town councils, but what can a mayor with 400
inhabitants tell his constituents?," Sala said.
"The real revolution goes in the direction of macroregions
and fewer town councils," he added.
Milan mayor urges PD agreement
Calls for macroregions and fewer town councils