Gualtieri’s encore: “Nobody sit down”. Mancini speaks

“No one should be under the illusion that, just because Mayor Gualtieri is doing well in the polls, we can sit back and stop dealing with practical matters – not least because it is not just him who will be judged, but the whole team: from councillors to district mayors. And to be re-elected, we must keep working hard right to the very end, without giving in to the temptation of election campaigning or saying ‘we’ll talk about it later’. Rome’s problems are far from over.”

Claudio Mancini addresses Rome’s centre-left as a football manager might address his team before a decisive match. “Roma and Lazio are both top of Serie A; now it’s our turn to win again,” he quips. It is also thanks to his behind-the-scenes work, as the mayor’s political ambassador liaising with the parties, that there is an air of peace in the city. There are no longer any disputes within the Roman PD; the broad coalition seems set to expand: IV has already joined the majority, Azione will support Gualtieri’s second term, and even the M5S seems ready to do so. Institutional relations with the centre-right are also going from strength to strength, to the point where some on the right are beginning to accuse the parties of colluding with the enemy (“The election is in nine months’ time; they’ll choose their candidate soon,” Mancini downplays).

On the left, however, something is stirring. There is the unyielding former mayor Ignazio Marino, and also the head of Cinema America, Valerio Carocci, who, along with a section of the Italian jet set before the summer, spoke in no uncertain terms about a list to the left of Gualtieri. Mancini makes no secret of it: “The boos directed at leaders in Naples and the clashes in Val di Susa,” he says, “show that something is stirring on the left outside the broad coalition. There will probably be an ‘anti’ list at national level. We cannot rule out that this unyielding extremism might also be present in Rome: it is a structural reality, but I do not believe it will have any electoral impact.”

Mancini urges the PD and its allies to focus: “It is on what has been achieved that the team will be judged. These past five years have enabled the mayor and the council to achieve significant results in tackling the city’s structural problems, addressing many long-standing issues that had remained unresolved for far too long: the abattoir, which had been closed for 30 years; Calatrava’s ‘Vele’, closed for 15; and the former General Markets, closed for 40. Then there’s the waste-to-energy plant, Metro Line C… and, of course, the Jubilee,’ continues Mancini, ‘which demonstrated a return to the ability to deliver on projects. Now, however, we must focus on the future, paying close attention to the citizens who must reap the benefits of the transformation currently underway. And so, greater attention must be paid to public transport, to the appearance of the city, to the upkeep of the suburbs and, in terms of services, to simplification and technological innovation, without forgetting the vulnerable and those who are lonely.”

Meanwhile, there is talk of an ‘election day’ in April, with the Rome City Council election combined with the general election. “It would be desirable,” replies the Democratic Party MP, “as it would save money, but above all it would spare Italians further months under this government: having to wait until October would be a real ordeal for us.”

On election day, however, Gualtieri would not be able to act as a unifying figure for the broad coalition, as various behind-the-scenes reports have suggested in recent months. “These are natural speculations,” comments Mancini. “Democratic mayors of major cities are symbolic leaders of the opposition in the collective imagination. It happens in the US, in Turkey and, of course, in Italy too. But Gualtieri is a serious person: once he has secured a renewed mandate of confidence from the citizens of Rome, he will be fully committed to this challenge.”

As the champion of Rome’s interests in Parliament, Mancini suffered a setback before the summer: the majority of the PD group in the Chamber of Deputies abstained on the constitutional bill concerning Rome as the capital. “That debate,” he says, “was partly affected by a climate of confrontation fuelled by the right, but also – it must be acknowledged – by bipartisan mistrust among MPs from the north, with hostile manoeuvring cutting across party lines. Yet Rome is the capital of Italy, of Christianity and of Western history; it is not just in the Romans’ interest that this role be institutionally recognised, but in the interest of all Italians.”

Mancini also makes it quite clear that it is a question of money: “The capital must have more resources, not just on special occasions such as the Jubilee.”

Meanwhile, to give us a taste of things to come, another Holy Year is already on the horizon – that of 2033 – marking the two-thousandth anniversary of the crucifixion of Jesus. “It hasn’t been officially proclaimed yet, but it has already been widely announced,” he says. “It would be good if the next Budget Bill were to take this into account and start planning the necessary measures. With five or six years’ notice, rather than just two as was the case for 2025, we would be able to get things done even sooner and more effectively, tackling various structural issues. It should be borne in mind,” he emphasises, “that, wisely, the Giubileo organisation has not been dissolved. Furthermore, in 2032, the year before, the city will also be among those hosting the European Football Championship.”