Minus three. The countdown has begun. Eyes on October 28, the historic day for Sardinia in the battle over insularity. Being able to bring the popular law proposal to the Senate, supported by a hundred thousand signatures and a transversal political spectrum, "is not a small achievement." And, given the compactness of the Sardinian senators, it is desirable that the first go-ahead will already be on Thursday. "If the text goes to the classroom it is to be approved", confirms Gianni Marilotti (Pd). "There was a large majority in the Constitutional Affairs Committee, there is no reason to doubt that the whole operation will be successful." And there is another fact that for the senator from Cagliari it is worth remembering: "There are counted the times in which Parliament has accepted proposals and brought them to the Chamber: from 1974 to the last legislature, 262 proposals for popular law and only three had been approved, 151 not even discussed: which means that 7 and a half million signatures were not taken into consideration. This time it was a miracle, for which we recognize the commitment of the promoters and the late Roberto Frongia ».
The scenery
From Sardinia they applaud the "compactness" achieved by the Sardinians at Palazzo Madama, without forgetting the commitment also spent by the islanders' deputies: each political group has agreed on the path to follow for the recognition of the principle of insularity in the Constitution. An objective that strengthens the claims of the Sardinians to remove the burden of being an island from the island, with the permanent disadvantages that have so far slowed down its development from all points of view, especially the economic one. But it doesn't stop there. "The entry of the bill into the Senate chamber represents an important point of arrival and we are very satisfied", says Sara Canu, leader of the Reformers in the Regional Council, "but at the same time urges us to continue the battle in synergy also with Sicily to assert our reasons on the national front and with Brussels, so that the socio-economic gap we are suffering from will also be bridged by the next European programming ». And for the same reasons, the Senator of the League, Lina Lunesu, will represent her party at Palazzo Madama and will make the declaration of vote. "We should be able to approve the text: we Sardinians hope it is the beginning to fill a gap that still does not allow us to solve atavistic problems, such as railways, just to name one".
"Concrete solutions"
Francesco Agus (Progressives) warns, however: "Insularity is not a magic word, nor should it be understood as something that will bring funds to infinity as it was with Objective 1: it makes sense if it becomes a way to obtain some rights denied today, such as a derogation regime in the field of transport, because it is clear that the same laws that apply to other regions cannot be applied to Sardinia ", Agus points out, adding:" It is all to be seen and we are worried about the weakness of representation and political practice of the Sardinian Region, never before so irrelevant in the national panorama ». On the opposite front Roberto Li Gioi (5 Stars) applauds the "bipartisan result against an insularity that costs 5700 euros a year for each Sardinian: a gap so wide that it is becoming insurmountable for Sardinia". In four days in Rome, the battle gets underway. "The Government will have an instrument to deal with Europe", remarks the adviser of the Lega Dario Giagoni, "and to protect the island from sanctioning risks: I am thinking of a tax system with VAT at 7 percent as it happens from other parties and the possibility for the state to finance airlines and shipping companies without the constraints of state aid. Only in this way will Sardinia be able to compete on equal terms ».
Carla Raggio