Now that the Turin leaders of the Democratic Party are ready to withdraw his membership card and throw him out of the party of which he was one of the most influential leaders during the years of mayor Piero Fassino, Salvatore Gallo must have thought about his first political life which ended, that too, with a judicial investigation.
Late 1980s, then “Sasà”, 85 years old, former Sitaf manager, investigated for extortion, embezzlement and violation of electoral regulations in the Echidna investigation into the interests of the ‘Ndrangheta on the A32 Turin-Aosta motorway, he is a big shot of the Socialist Party . The former president of the San Luigi hospital in Orbassano, municipal councilor in Sala Rossa, loyal to Giusi La Ganga and Bettino Craxi, is overwhelmed by investigations into contracts, favoritism and bribes within the healthcare facility.
Gallo has always been a man of two worlds. That of public health and that of motorway toll booths. Enter Sitaf, the Frejus tunnel company and A32 concessionaire, at the time of father-master Franco Froio, the CEO, later cornered by the magistrates, who, in those years, had offered a second chance ( and a large salary) to the many politicians of the various parties affected by the investigations. Sasà moves well and in a few years becomes personnel director, then president of Sitalfa. The dossiers of millionaire jobs pass across his desk, but also the recommendations for hiring. Gallo is a skilled director and a man of relationships. With a constant foot in politics.
When many of the former socialists moved to the right, Gallo continued and joined the Margherita and then the future Democratic Party. His rise is linked to the “Porta Palazzo period”, when he went out of his way to get Sergio Chiamparino elected.
Calabrian by origin, his habitat is those suburbs increasingly distant from the left, where he builds his dense web. His enemies within the party call him the “lord of free cards and telepasses”.
The former correspond to the heavy pool of preferences that it is able to orient at each vote, such as those for the administrative elections or for the primaries that are decisive for the fate of the secretaries. The second, the toll cards, are the trademark of a system that involves doctors, journalists, lawyers and municipal managers. It is built around his IdeaTo association, the acronym of his current, the armed wing of the other great old man of the party under the Mole: Giancarlo Quagliotti, political coordinator for Piero Fassino’s electoral campaign, former president of a Sitaf subsidiary and, also , struggling in the past with investigations for business and politics.
Politics is a family affair to be passed down as if it were an inheritance. In 2011, inconveniencing the big shots from Rome, he had his first son appointed municipal councilor. Stefano, born in 1976, joins the Fassino council with responsibility for sport, after having him elected with a record number of preferences. The experience for the young man is not so rewarding, the eldest seems to lack the temperament and today works in a managerial role in a public hospital.
In 2014, however, the youngest Gallo was elected in the Region for the first time. His name is Raffaele, born in 1979, he stands out for his friendly manner and competence. Re-elected in 2019, today he is the regional leader of the opposition Democrats and, until a few days ago, he was the frontrunner in the next elections. Even though he is not under investigation, today, Saturday, he decided to give up the race under pressure from the leaders of the Democratic Party due to the investigation involving his father.
2024-04-07 15:55:40
#eternal #Sasà #Gallo #ras #free #telepasses #troubles #Mani #Pulite #children #enlisted #Democratic #Party
