Mayors in small municipalities challenge the Region: "We are running for a third term against Sicilian law"

"When a deputy serves eight terms it's fine, but when the mayor of a small municipality simply asks to be treated like the rest of Italy and to be able to run for a third term, no. We are at absurdity." The Sicilian mayors are on the warpath. Speaking for all is the president of the regional Anci Paolo Amenta. Some mayors have decided to challenge the Sicilian Regional Assembly and announce that they will run anyway in the upcoming local elections, despite Sicilian law - unlike that in other regions - prohibiting it.

They are finishing their second term, but they will attempt a third: the mayor of Serradifalco, Leonardo Burgio; that of Agira, Maria Greco; the mayor of Valguarnera, Francesca Draia. Meanwhile, the colleague from Santo Stefano di Camastra, Francesco Re, is considering it.

A significant group, considering that in the next electoral round in spring, there are only seven mayors of municipalities with under 15,000 inhabitants who have completed two terms. But the attempt to bypass the law, overriding the regional politics that has twice brought the proposal for amendment to the assembly without managing to approve it, could represent a revolution. And it could also impact the 2027 local elections, when around thirty mayors will be involved in a possible third term. Among them are Giosuè Maniaci in Terrasini and Girolamo Bertolami in Novara di Sicilia, already alongside their colleagues. 

According to local administrators, the subjective right to eligibility is being violated. Different in Sicily compared to the rest of Italy. The fault lies with autonomy and regional competence over local authorities. In reality, attempts to equalize have been made by the Sicilian Regional Assembly. The last one was exactly a month ago with the bill on local authorities, "emptied of everything after three years of work in the commissions - Amenta emphasizes - Only the gender quotas were saved, thanks to the mobilization of women in the streets." Thus, the amendment to the two-term limit for municipalities between 5,000 and 15,000 inhabitants - a rule particularly dear to the Lega - ended up shot down amid the bickering and grudges of the majority. 

Today, it is the Sicilian League that raises the stakes. Leonardo Burgio, mayor of Serradifalco for 10 years - son of the regional health assessor Daniela Faraoni and party commissioner in the province of Caltanissetta - announces that he will run for re-election. "My choice represents neither a challenge nor a personal or political stance." He draws strength from the very recent ruling of the Constitutional Court that intervened on February 19 regarding an appeal filed by the State Attorney General against Valle d'Aosta. The judges essentially state that "in matters of passive suffrage, ineligibility, and incompatibility", even special statute regions (like Valle d'Aosta and Sicily) cannot deviate from state regulations, in the name of "a general need for uniformity of the legislation concerning the political right to vote, which - the Court specifies - can find distinct expressions in different regional regulations, but always in compliance with the principles of state legislation."

The ruling comes after the vote of the Ars. "The Court - attacks Mayor Burgio - has drawn a clear and unequivocal direction, recognizing a principle that surpasses any previous interpretation and which effectively renders the second vote of the Sicilian Regional Assembly obsolete and without effect. Even the prerogatives derived from the special statute, in this matter, are surpassed by this ruling. It is evident that justice cannot ignore this regulatory and jurisprudential framework." The mayor of Agira, Maria Greco (Pd), has already formally requested the intervention of the national government. "It is a battle for legal civilization", she says. 

What scenario will unfold when the rebellious mayors submit their third candidacy? "Presumably - explains administrative law professor Agatino Cariola - it will be the electoral office that will be the first to oppose. And at that point, the candidate will have to file a appeal." To which body is a question whose answer is not obvious, because when a list or a candidate is excluded, it is usually the TAR that is the designated venue to resolve any dispute. "But in this case - specifies Cariola - there is the subjective right to eligibility at stake. And, as has already happened for appeals regarding direct elections in the former Provinces, it is the civil judge who has jurisdiction." Thus, a double front in the courts is likely, which would call into question not only the outcome of the mayoral race but also that of the associated list. 

Unless the issue finds a political solution. Tomorrow, the regional secretary of the League Nino Germanà, along with Mayor Burgio, will be in Rome to speak with the legislative office of the Minister for Regional Affairs Roberto Calderoli. "We want to understand if a government decree can remedy the situation; after all - he concludes - the recent ruling of the Constitutional Court is inevitable even for the Sicilian Region. There cannot be a different interpretation or, even worse, a norm in opposition."