Liguria, Rixi announces the law to save Diga and attacks the left: “They are the ones raising the tone”. And on Toti: “People are one thing, political projects are another”

There is also and above all the Northern League deputy minister Edoardo Rixiwho after having been in the running for the presidency of the Region for a long time will be the leader of the Carroccio list in Liguria, watching over the back of Marco Bucci in these weeks of rush towards the vote. Even on the day after the accident that sent the entire national railway network into a tailspin (“We are modernizing a decades-old line, the Democratic Party is calling for the minister’s resignation, but it’s surreal, it wasn’t Salvini who cut the cables of the trains”, his deputy joins the minister’s official defense line), he is one of the front runners of the coalition in Liguria.

It is he who in recent days has had the most heated confrontation with Andrea Orlando (“As a parliamentarian he turned his back on Liguria in the most difficult moment. By voting against the Genoa Decree after the collapse of the Morandi bridge, the Democratic Party must apologize”, is the accusation reiterated against the former government colleague, who threatened a lawsuit against «yet another falsehood» coming from the right).

It is to him, above all, that the center-right relies to deal with the most slippery issues (also) for the electoral campaign of the (former) regional majority, first and foremost the state of the works of the Dam. On which, despite the stalemate due to regional stops on filling the bins, he denies there are “significant delays”. And it announces within the year the arrival of the decree with which the Ministry of the Environment will give the green light to the filling of the caissons with the materials resulting from the dredging of the port and the excavation of the Genoese construction sites, first of all that of the subport tunnel.

Rixi, you were among the first to accuse the tone of the left, which had just started. Don’t you think they are also and above all rising on the right?

«The outbursts of Orlando or Schlein certainly don’t help when they talk about the Ligurian reality or the port of Genoa as a criminal system. It doesn’t seem to me that all Genoese port operators are involved in the investigation. The prosecutor’s office was the first to greatly limit the scope of the investigation. And I’m not about to let an image of my city pass as a center of crime.”

Orlando spoke of a criminogenic context. After all, there have been and still are investigations, there have been plea bargains, you were the first to send ministerial inspectors to the Port Authority.

«The inspectors have worked for a long time, by October 12th they will deliver the requested report, as required by the mandate, and we will see what they report. I don’t comment on plea bargains, they are personal choices. But I certainly don’t accept that Bucci is maliciously placed alongside contexts that are completely foreign to his way of being and doing. To date there is not a shred of accusation against him, despite years of recordings. Proof that we are not the ones raising the tone. The match immediately took a turn for the worse, with the anti-Toti demonstration under the Region last summer. On the left there are those who prefer the pillory to ideas.”

How, then, does his deputy party secretary Crippa judge, who in response to the controversy over the train stoppage said that in times of left-wing governments the viaducts collapsed, referring to the Morandi?

«If we want everyone to think about the future, about things to do, about themes, certain tones must be avoided by everyone. However, the story of the Morandi bridge tells the story: that bridge had to be demolished years before and the left-wing administration preferred to sweep the dust under the carpet.”

But it collapsed due to the lack of maintenance of those who had it under concession, and nothing else. There’s no denying it.

«Of course, maintenance is an issue. As well as the mistakes made by politics for decades, and those on the rules on concessions, which it is no coincidence that we had to review. But that bridge had to be demolished, it remained there because there were those who decided not to build the Voltri-Rivarolo link road which would have allowed traffic to move. The works are not eternal and the Gronda also serves this purpose: in twenty years, when the damaged works will have to be replaced, an alternative will be needed. With all due respect to those who don’t know whether to do it or not.”

For now, more than intentions, it seems to me there is a problem of funds. The billions are missing, what is the government doing to ask Aspi Real for steps forward?

«But funding is a false problem. We are preventing the cost from falling on tolls. We have already put 300 million on zero construction sites, there is certainly no going back. Aspi has let us know that it is respecting the 2025 timetable. Tell the M5s that changing the route would extend the time by eight years. And tell it to Orlando, who is trying to bring together those who want the Gronda and those who don’t, who accuses Toti of not having built the hospitals and at the same time says no to the new Galliera. A Brancaleone army from which the moderates escaped.”

From the left it stands out, it is said by those who go on stage with Vannacci, or how Bucci obtains the support of Bandecchi. Not exactly moderates, in short. What’s going on, on the right?

«What happens is that the government has never been so solid, it is much more solid than all those of the other European states, including France and Germany. And all this should be an absolute value for everyone, not just the majority.”

Does Toti still feel it?

«Yes but I keep the same idea as always. His plea agreement surprised us because we were not aware of his choice, but as a politician I appreciated his work.”

How much will the efforts to reconcile the evident continuity of Bucci with Toti and the need to make people forget about the investigation that has overwhelmed the Region weigh on your electoral campaign?

«I’ve already said it, I’m surprised that it’s difficult to distinguish the steps: people are one thing, political projects are another. Once upon a time, Berlinguer’s PCI had it clear, but today the Democratic Party seems rather confused to me.”