Puglia Popolare considers the mechanism for organizing the primaries in Lecce to be too hasty: ‘To strengthen Salvemini the coalition is not expanding’.

If the primaries of the center-left of Lecce are not to be considered a practice to be shelved immediately for the sole purpose of shoring up the position of the outgoing mayor Carlo Salvemini but a tool to broaden the coalition…then they should be postponed. Puglia Popolare also supports Azione’s position and asks to postpone the competition in order to identify truly competitive candidates.

Without a candidate of popular citizenship, the risk, according to Gigi Valente, municipal councilor of Puglia Popolare Lecce and
Francesco Foresio , Citizen Coordinator of Puglia Popolare Lecce, is that everything turns into a solitary practice entirely internal to the Left.

‘ The absence of a candidate who represents moderate civility, which with its 20% allowed Salvemini’s success in 2019, is a serious mistake. If the Democratic Party and the Left have decided to confirm the current leadership… there is no point in keeping them. It would be much better to align the primaries of Lecce and Bari, seeking a candidacy supported by the entire moderate civic world. A fact that would broaden the coalition, provided there is no rush to close the case alone.’

The centre-left coalition has set the date for November 26th, but the submission of nominations expires a month earlier. A time frame that was too short for some allies who were hoping for a more representative competition.