Pietro Bartolo enters Sicilian politics: candidate for the regional elections with Italia Viva

A new protagonist appears on the Sicilian political scene in view of the regional elections scheduled for next year. It is Pietro Bartolo, officially launched in the race to succeed Renato Schifani by Matteo Renzi during Leopolda, the Italia viva event. The former MEP and doctor, who has become a symbol of welcome for having assisted migrants who land in Lampedusa, immediately made it clear what the new course should be: "no agreements with dictatorships" on rejections and repatriations.

"I had to be in Lampedusa", for the thirteenth anniversary of the shipwreck which cost the lives of 368 people, "but I preferred to be here because I believe that my presence together with you is more important. The proposals to change this fascist government must come from here", began Bartolo, greeted by a standing ovation after being introduced by the host, the leader of Italia Viva. Migrants are clearly the issue that affects him most closely, due to his thirty years of experience in providing first aid to hundreds of thousands of people who challenge the sea from North Africa every day to reach Europe. People who continue to die "without anyone talking about it", because "there are those who don't want them, those who create barriers and go to make agreements, with a predilection for countries where dictatorship exists", he denounced.

Born in 1956, after his experience as a doctor on his island Bartolo was a MEP for the Democratic Party, where he left in 2025 to join the Casa Riformista project promoted by Renzi.

In the meantime he founded Rete Lampedusa, to build a new narrative on migration based on human rights, regular channels and European responsibility. His entry into the field in view of the regional elections in Sicily introduces another contender for the governor's seat among the ranks of the center-left, which has not yet found an agreement on a unitary candidate, while several local political leaders have already come forward. One of these is Ismaele La Vardera, who with his movement, Controcorrente, achieved historic success by winning the municipal elections in Agrigento. "Bartolo is a decent person, it will be nice to deal with him", were the words of the former Iena, who however clarified: "My candidacy remains".