Lega Politicians Norman Gobbi and Claudio Zali Spark Outrage with Department Swap Plan
State Councillors Claudio Zali (far left) and Norman Gobbi (second from right) have caught their government colleagues off guard.
Outrage and consternation dominate the political scene in Ticino these days. The focus is on the plan of the two Lega state councillors to swap their departments. According to the plan, Norman Gobbi, who has been in the cantonal government since 2011 and has been in charge of the Police and Justice Department ever since, would soon take over the cantonal Department of Construction, Transport, and Environment. This department is currently under the leadership of his party colleague Claudio Zali, who has been in the State Council since 2013.
Norman Gobbi, State Councillor of Ticino.
The rationale behind this swap, halfway through the legislative period, by the two officials is the need to infuse the government with “new oxygen.” Gobbi spoke of a “desire for renewal” and the importance of “leaving one’s comfort zone.”
Surreal Scenario in Front of Assembled Judiciary
In principle, these good intentions could also be shared. The Ticino government undoubtedly needs change and fresh oxygen. Each state councillor seems to have been tending to their own departmental garden for years. However, the question arises as to why the Gobbi/Zali duo did not decide on this swap after the 2023 elections. Gobbi had already been the Minister of Justice for twelve years at that time. Additionally, the planned change was publicly communicated as if it were a done deal, even though the entire government was only informed internally of the intention, with no decision made.
Claudio Zali, State Councillor of Ticino.
The appearance of Claudio Zali, who presented himself at the opening of the judicial year in Lugano earlier this week as the cantonal Minister of Justice in pectore in front of the assembled judges, caused particular consternation. “Surreal,” wrote the Ticino daily newspaper “La Regione.” Everything sounded like a done deal from Gobbi’s side as well. The Lega dei Ticinesi announced the completion of the department swap in a press release for the autumn, after the party’s newspaper “Mattino della domenica” had anticipated the swap as an oracle on its front page on Sunday.
However, the Lega, and especially its two state councillors, had not accounted for the reaction from their colleagues. The other members of the State Council, Christian Vitta (FDP), Raffaele De Rosa (Mitte), and Marina Carobbio (SP), were very upset about the communication from their two Lega colleagues. The two magistrates had to backtrack. According to an official press release from the cantonal government, they apologized but reaffirmed their intentions. The government as a whole will now take time to further discuss the matter. The enthusiasm of the colleagues was temporarily dampened.
It is astonishing that neither Gobbi as the current Minister of Justice nor Zali as a jurist and former president of the cantonal criminal court apparently considered whether such a swap in a running legislative period is even possible. The extremely left-wing Movement for Socialism (MpS) had to point out in an inquiry that departmental distribution is only done according to the cantonal renewal elections or by-elections as per the regulation. This regulation would need to be changed. It would potentially require a majority of four state councillors to overturn an earlier decision on departmental distribution. Legal clarifications are now being sought.
The Lega maneuver was met with extreme disapproval from all other political parties – from left to right. The cantonal SVP, normally an ally of the Lega, was particularly critical. In a statement, they referred to the “unacceptable behavior of the Lega state councillors.” Not even the most obscure bocce club would have proceeded with such tragicomic ease. A change in leadership just 16 to 18 months before the cantonal renewal elections – scheduled for April 11, 2027 – would paralyze the activities of both departments. The Lega state councillors should focus on work instead of engaging in party political games.
Similar sentiments were echoed by the other parties. On Thursday, the presidents of the FDP, Mitte, SP, SVP, and Greens collectively sent a letter to the cantonal government, urging them to carefully consider “whether such a departmental switch is in the interest of the canton.” The letter read like a warning, although the decision-making autonomy of the State Council was explicitly mentioned.
Merciless Comments
The comments from the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the “Corriere del Ticino,” Gianni Righinetti, this week were merciless: “Here we are going beyond a circus act; we are in an authentic cabaret.” Gobbi and Zali seem to have plunged into the “delirium of omnipotence,” in the illusion that they can lead all Ticinese people by the nose. In another analysis, he referred to an “unprofessional pasticcio” as in a “banana republic.”
The affair is likely to have concrete effects on the upcoming elections and may not be a one-off incident. The historic alliance with joint electoral lists between Lega and SVP seems to be a thing of the past. This affects not only the cantonal elections but also the municipal and national elections.
Interestingly, the maneuver itself does not even receive approval from their own clientele. The Lega website “Mattin Online” published a (non-representative) survey in which 54.7% of respondents described the swap maneuver by Gobbi and Zali as “negative.” 25.9% declared themselves “neutral,” while only 17.6% judged the intention as “positive.” A minority of 1.8% viewed the whole situation as “a media circus around a departmental change.”
Similar results were seen in a survey by “Ticino Online,” where 75% of respondents saw in the proposed swap “personal political ambitions, but no public interest.” It seems that the impulsive actions of the two Lega state councillors have backfired.