Taranto, in his endorsement Vannacci evokes the X Mas. Storm over the general, the PD: ''Unacceptable''
The appeal is to the citizens of Taranto. Or rather: "of the splendid city of Taranto" . And it comes from General Roberto Vannacci, MEP and new vice-secretary of the League, with a video endorsement in which he invites support for the candidacy of Francesco Tacente , lawyer and outgoing president of the Consorzio trasporti pubblici, with an X that - in the words of Vannacci - becomes a "tenth".
Thirty-seven seconds that make the case mount. But that echo what the Northern League general has already stated in the past. The reference is to the X Flottiglia MAS. "The Tenth", precisely. The Italian military body active between 1943 and 1945 alongside the Nazis and the Salò Republicans against the Allies and the Resistance. And which was stained, in the last two years of the Second World War, with brutal war crimes - roundups and shootings - that came to light only several years later.
It is not the first time that Vannacci evokes the X Mas. He had done so , among other things, when he entered the field for the European elections of 8 and 9 June 2024. Those that guaranteed him a seat in the European Parliament. "On 8 and 9 June on the appropriate ballot paper make a 'tithe' on the symbol of the League and write Vannacci and we will overwhelm them all with an avalanche of votes. To change this Europe that we do not like", the tone of the appeal for his candidacy. Specular to the one released in the last few hours on the occasion of the administrative round of Taranto on 25 and 25 May, where, among the seven lists supporting the candidacy of Tacente, there is also Prima Taranto.
"Dear citizens of Taranto, of the splendid city of Taranto, on May 25 and 26 we will vote to elect the new mayor and the new city council. Our team leader Giuliano Neglia is a candidate on the Prima Taranto list in support of the mayor Tacente. With a Decima on the Prima Taranto list and writing Neglia we will straighten out this upside-down world", says Vannacci. Triggering a hornet's nest of controversy in the city.
The reaction of the provincial secretariat of the Democratic Party was harsh. "In a disconcerting video - writes the secretary Anna Filippetti - General Vannacci invites people to vote for a candidate from the coalition led by Francesco Tacente's Lega, speaking openly of putting a "tithe". Yes, you understood correctly: not a cross, not an X, but a tithe. A term loaded with a disturbing historical echo. Today - she continues - those who run on the lists of a democratic force should distance themselves from this language. Instead, they use it lightly - or perhaps with awareness. It is unacceptable. It is not just a wrong word. It is a revealing slip, a dangerous sign of a political culture that looks nostalgically at authoritarian models, that trivializes history, that flirts with the symbols of Europe's darkest past. We of the Democratic Party say forcefully: enough with those who play with the fire of extremism. Those who do not immediately distance themselves from these things confirm themselves increasingly disconnected from the republican, democratic and anti-fascist values on which our Constitution is founded. Let's defend memory. Let's defend democracy and at the polls, we respond with a civilized choice".
La Repubblica
