Bandecchi is in talks with Forza Italia. “I’m worth more than one per cent. Does that disgust you?”

“I met with some Forza Italia senators yesterday morning; on my own, I’m worth more than 1 per cent.” The centre-right is courting Stefano Bandecchi, entrepreneur, mayor of Terni and leader of Dimensione Bandecchi. “We’ll arrange another meeting soon and see what they want to propose to me. There are plenty of options available,” he tells Il Foglio. By ‘lending’ MPs, FdI helped Cateno De Luca circumvent the increase in the number of signatures required under electoral law. “It was a clever move on Meloni’s part. To achieve a positive result in Sicily, she had no choice but to strike a deal with De Luca,” reasons Bandecchi. The centre-left is well aware of this, as it forges alliances with CARC and Rifondazione Comunista, just as the centre-right does. On Friday in Via della Scrofa, Meloni’s ally Giovanni Donzelli met with representatives of Alternativa Popolare, of which Bandecchi was the coordinator. “I was the one who struck the deal with the centre-right two years ago,” the mayor claims, “thanks to which we stood together in Liguria and Umbria.”

For Bandecchi, therefore, moving in those circles would not be new territory. “My heart lies with the centre-right, and I am certainly much closer to Forza Italia than to any of the other parties in the majority. Although,” the trade unionist notes, “raising the threshold for collecting signatures to stand in the elections so high is not a good way to demonstrate that democracy reigns supreme.” Despite the criticism, Bandecchi appears open to an alliance. “I don’t think my party on its own counts for much. But in the next elections there will be a right-wing liberal bloc and a left-wing socialist bloc. You have to take sides, stand on one side. Entrusting Italy once again to the left-wing parties I see today is, for me, terrifying.” And this is where his party, founded in September 2025, is most valuable, according to its leader: “Today, the name Stefano Bandecchi alone is worth one and a half per cent in Italy. If that puts them off… let everyone do their own maths. Every vote in these elections is crucial.” The agreement is fine, on one condition: “Vannacci must be left out; he’s more socialist than the socialists. But even the Italians are starting to realise this. They’re coming back to the fold.”