Francesco Pionati has described Gennaro Sangiuliano's new role as "una scelta eccellente" and an opportunity to rebuild the centre-right in Irpinia and Campania.
Speaking to the Irpinia press, Pionati argues that Sangiuliano should use the moment to renew the provincial leadership of the coalition, replacing the current leaders of Fratelli d'Italia and Forza Italia in Irpinia after what Pionati presents as recent electoral and organisational failures.
What Pionati is asking for
At the centre of Pionati's position is a call for discontinuity. He presents a change of provincial leadership as necessary to restart the coalition locally, rather than continuing with the existing structures.
His criticism focuses in part on the "Fratelli di Avellino" operation and its connection to the unsuccessful candidacy of Laura Nargi. Pionati treats that episode as an example of what went wrong for the local centre-right, without the precise leadership changes that might follow being specified.
Support for Festa joining Fratelli d'Italia
Pionati also supports the possible entry of Gianluca Festa into Fratelli d'Italia, describing him as a politically rooted and capable figure.
The available sources do not establish whether Festa ultimately entered the party. Pionati's remarks therefore read as a political endorsement of the move, not as confirmation of its outcome.
A broader dispute over the Avellino centre-right
Pionati's comments belong to a wider dispute over the organisation and electoral strategy of the centre-right in Avellino.
That dispute includes competing interpretations of the coalition's performance in local and provincial politics. Different voices within and around the coalition read recent results differently, disagreeing over responsibility for setbacks and over the best way to reorganise.
Forza Italia, Fratelli d'Italia and the Lega
A further point of contention concerns the relative strength of the coalition partners on the ground.
Orticalab argues that Forza Italia currently has greater local institutional and organisational weight in the Avellino area than Fratelli d'Italia and the Lega. Pionati and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, by contrast, are described as calling for renewal of the local centre-right, with attention focused especially on the leadership of Fratelli d'Italia and Forza Italia.
The contrast matters for readers because any reorganisation led by or associated with Sangiuliano would have to reckon with that balance: formal party roles, elected offices and local organisation do not necessarily point in the same direction.
What remains unclear
Several key points are not settled in the available reporting. The full text of Pionati's interview with Il Mattino is only partially available, and the political claims involved are attributed statements or editorial assessments rather than independently verified findings.
Most importantly, the precise leadership changes Sangiuliano might pursue have not been specified, nor has the outcome of the proposed move involving Festa. For now, Pionati's intervention is best understood as public pressure for a reset of the Irpinian centre-right, with Sangiuliano presented as the figure who could carry it out.
