ROME- In an attempt to boost his dwindling popularity, Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino has presented a new council during a presentation by the city council, in which all members are from the Partito Democratico (PD), the Italian centre-left political party whose secretary is Premier Matteo Renzi. However, Marino has stressed that the newly- chosen councillors have been entirely decided by him, and has challenged Renzi to judge the new council on “what (they) have done, and what (they) will do”. 

 The reshuffle has introduced four new people into the council: Mario Causi, Deputy Mayor and budget councillor; Stefano Esposito, councillor of transport; Luigina Di Liegro, of tourism; and Marco Rossi Doria, who will take care of education.

 These new additions will be looking to restore the trust that Roman citizens have lost in the city council, amidst the public transport and waste management issues that have caused outcry recently. The council will also be striving to prove the worth of Marino’s administration to the Government. “The government is willing to continue to work in cooperation with the Rome Council, but now it is up to Marino to present feasible and concrete projects for the future,” said Italian Premier Renzi, who has given the mayor three months to see a “change in direction” for the better.

The chosen council, the third one in two years, which has had nine replacement councillors, was established only hours before the presentation, taking the entire night to appoint the significant roles, particularly that of transport given the recent Atac strikes causing disruption on the Rome Metro.

Swiftly after the council’s photos were taken, Marino took to listing, point by point, the main focusses of the city council’s mission, which will ultimately determine Marino’s future as the Eternal City’s mayor. Cleaning the streets, public transport, housing and urban regeneration were the main aspects that were proposed to be tackled by the city council. It is of no surprise that street cleaning is among them, given that Rome’s streets have reached international notoriety: French national newspaper Le Monde published an article about the city entitled “Rome, the city in degradation” on Tuesday, in reference to the state of its streets.

With the reshuffle, the left-wing ecology party SEL, have lost power within the city council, which has left a bitter taste for the party: “Marino is a hostage of the PD” said the SEL coordinator Paolo Cento. In any case, the heavy burden of resolving Rome’s issues, and thus the reputation of Marino’s administration, which looks to be in its final term, rests on the PD’s shoulders.