"True civics, without pretense: seriousness as a revolutionary value"

Viareggio, July 26, 2025 – Once again, in the run-up to the elections, we're witnessing the same old story. On both the right and the left, "civic" lists emerge, crafted solely to serve as crutches for the parties. They don't represent local areas, they don't emerge from authentic paths: they're decoy lists, designed to multiply symbols and votes, without any real roots.

Too often, these lists even avoid collecting signatures, thanks to bureaucratic loopholes and shortcuts. A mandatory step for all true civic forces becomes, for them, an obstacle to circumvent. Through quibbles and pressure, they obtain privileges that they use to prevent others—precisely those who follow the rules—from participating. A distorted competition, where those with the means to bend the rules use them against those who respect them.

The civic spirit we're building in Tuscany is the opposite of all this. It has no hidden agendas, it doesn't seek shortcuts, it doesn't disguise itself. It doesn't feign openness where there's only calculation. It doesn't invent false autonomies where there's only silent obedience.

Our strength is only one, and we have no need to hide it behind plots or maneuvers: seriousness.

In an age dominated by cunning, games, and palace tricks, seriousness is a revolutionary value. Seriousness in the way one conducts oneself in democratic competition. Seriousness in not mocking citizens. Seriousness in building a political proposal that arises not from the fear of losing a position, but from the desire to truly change things.

Those who play by the rules can never be part of the solution. We simply respect them. And this—today—is already a form of radical discontinuity.

* Mayor of Viareggio