It will take years before the Peccioli oxy-fuel plant starts working at full capacity, but its effects are already visible in the first three days after its approval by the regional council. All political effects: the disappointment of Eugenio Giani towards the councilor Alessandra Nardini for her absence during the vote, the dismay of the PD over the president’s words about a possible role in Rome, and the internal earthquake within the 5 Star Movement over the yes to the plant by councilor David Barontini despite opposition from local leaders and the grassroots base.
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- Peccioli, what is the oxy-fuel plant? All the details of the 130 million waste giant – What it is for and where it could be built
The Barontini case and the position of the 5 Star Movement
The political community of the 5 Star Movement is currently paying the highest price. Barontini entered the council with a position against the oxy-fuel plant and left with a favorable vote. A turnaround that surprised, and not a little, his party comrades, but which was not at all a sudden stroke of genius. The national leadership knew, endorsed, and covered the choice. In fact, within the Movement it is said more: “They wanted it themselves.” The reason is harder to understand, especially after a summer in which the Movement leader, Giuseppe Conte, did not miss an opportunity to distance himself from the PD and its secretary Elly Schlein, with a series of public statements that shook the Campo Largo.
The “acknowledgment” and the political nature of the vote
Councilor Barontini and regional coordinator Tommaso Pierazzi, the only one who defended him, spoke of a due act. To use Pierazzi’s own words, the “due acknowledgment of an administrative process concluded and started in 2023.” In other words: “We simply completed a technical step.” In reality, it is a political – legitimate – choice and therefore not “obliged.” And not only for the trivial reason that every vote is, in fact, a political choice. This is also confirmed by regional law, specifically number 10 of February 2010, which regulates the “Rules on strategic environmental assessment, environmental impact assessment, integrated environmental authorization, and single environmental authorization.” Article 5 states: “In the case of procedures under regional competence, the council, in exercising its political and administrative discretion, expresses itself on the environmental compatibility of the project and simultaneously adopts the reasoned determination concluding the service conference.” As you can see, it all depends on that “political discretion.”
Internal reactions within the 5 Star Movement
A point not missed even within the 5 Star Movement. From Cascina, M5S councilor Fausto Bosco claims the “no” to the oxy-fuel plant and distances himself from Barontini’s choice to vote in favor. “On certain identity issues, consistency comes before anything else,” Bosco emphasizes, contesting the justification that the regional council should have limited itself to an acknowledgment: “The council has a political role, it is not a mere technical office.” For Bosco, therefore, Barontini’s favorable vote was not a due act but a political choice.
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Tensions in the PD and the Nardini case
In the PD, the nervous crisis is less marked, but shocks are not lacking. President Giani has shown all his disappointment towards Nardini, who is accused, according to circles close to Giani himself, of “lack of government culture.” The Pisa councilor made the precise choice to be absent, and several local administrators, even from political areas different from Nardini’s (Schleinian), privately say they appreciated her stance. Nardini has never spoken publicly about the matter but receives the trust of the national secretariat, evidenced by the fact that she is the only representative of the Tuscan council invited to the National Unity Festival currently taking place in Reggio Emilia.
Giani’s self-candidacy and future scenarios
Among Tuscan Democrats, there are some doubts about Giani’s self-candidacy for a future role in Rome. The president, in the Corriere Fiorentino, said that “one of Tuscany’s great shortcomings is its modest representation in Rome.” Statements not very appreciated by Tuscan delegates in the capital. However, it is difficult, if not impossible, to think that he wants to run next year, sending Tuscany to early elections. In the corridors, the (crazy?) idea circulates that he wants to propose himself as Minister of Culture or Sport in the next Campo Largo government. More realistically, Giani is thinking of a role as a front runner for the Senate in the next round, in view of the redrawing of constituencies due to the electoral law. The idea, by no means far-fetched, is that no one enjoys broader recognition across all provinces of the territory as he does, with the ability to bring in a significant number of preferences. A long-term horizon: for now, the focus is on maintaining the Tuscan alliance, currently rather strained.
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